Robredo corrects Roque: 'I'm not against Sinovac vaccines'
Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, May 23, maintained that she has never been against China’s CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac Biotech, contrary to claims by Presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Last Friday, Roque said that the vice president should clarify first her stand on the Chinese vaccine because she earlier backed the Health Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19’s (HPAC) push to review the vaccines when they first arrived in the country.
The Palace official said this as Senator Joel Villanueva made the suggestion for Robredo and President Duterte to make an infomercial to build public trust in the government’s vaccination program.
In her weekly radio show with broadcaster Ely Saludar, Robredo called Roque’s remark “fake news.”
“Binalikan ko, Ka Ely, iyong lahat ng statement kasi alam ko hindi ako kontra sa bakunang galing China. Hindi ko sinasabi na mas masama yung Sinovac or whatever (I looked back, Ka Ely, on all my statements because I know I was never against the vaccine from China. I am not saying that the Sinovac is bad or whatever),” Robredo stressed.
Instead, she explained that she backed the HPAC’s call because Sinovac was given an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) despite not having a positive recommendation from the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).
HTAC was created under the Universal Health Care Law to review the cost and ethical and community impact of health technologies that will be introduced to the public. Included for review are medicines, vaccines, and health devices.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/28/sinovac-must-go-through-proper-approval-process-before-rollout-robredo/
Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca had to receive a positive recommendation first from HTAC before being granted an EUA.
Earlier, the Duterte administration argued that this was only recommendatory, and should not be required from Sinovac since the first batch of the Chinese-made vaccines that arrived in the country was a donation.
“Sinasabi ko kahit pa donated dapat humingi pa din ng positive recommendation galing sa HTAC kasi protection ito sa mga kababayan natin. Ang sinasabi ko lang ano iyong required sa ibang bakuna, dapat dito ganun din. (What I was saying is even if it was donated, it should still ask for a positive recommendation from HTAC because this is for the protection of our people. What I was saying is that what we require from the other vaccines should be the same with this one),” Robredo said.
“Later on nga, Ka Ely, nagkaroon na so wala na tayong diskusyon (it got one, so there’s no discussion anymore),” she added.