Sinopharm gets 'compassionate use' vaccine approval for PSG
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a compassionate use license for 10,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccines to be administered to the Presidential Security Group (PSG), Malacañang said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the announcement a month after FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo III said that the agency can issue a compassionate special permit to inoculate small groups of people involved in critical missions amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
In his Thursday presser, Roque reiterated that it was important to vaccinate the PSG because they protect President Duterte.
"Kinakailangan mabakunahan na ang ibang miyembro pa ng PSG dahil nga po sa kanilang trabaho na nagbibigay ng seguridad sa ating Presidente (The members of the PSG need to be vaccinated immediately because they give our President security)," he said.
He added that PSG getting a compassionate use license is not skipping the line. Health workers are supposed to be the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
"Nasa priority naman po ang ating mga kasundaluhan at matagal na po nating napag-usapan 'yan na seguridad at kalusugan ng Presidente ang pinapangalagaan (Soldiers are in the priority list and we've long established that they protect and preserve the security and safety of the Presidente)," he said.
Roque said that the 10,000 doses approved for compassionate use may include the families of the PSG.
"I suppose so dahil hindi naman po 10,000 ang PSG (I suppose so because our PSG does not exceed 10,000 members)," he said.
According to Roque, the PSG probably filed an application for the Sinopharm vaccine because the brands that received an emergency use authorization (EUA)-- Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-- are not available in the country yet.
Meanwhile, he is unaware of when the vaccination among members of the PSG will take place or how the group will procure the said vaccines.
"I do not know if it is retroactive or when they will actually start its next round of vaccination involving Sinopharm," Roque said.
"Hindi ko na po alam kung paano nila ipo-procure 'yan (I don't know they are going to procure that). I have no information," he added.
The vaccination of the PSG became a controversial topic after President Duterte revealed in December last year that some Filipino soldiers have been vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccines. The PSG admitted that some of its members already received the vaccine but Duterte ordered them to "shut up" on the vaccination.