TO GET 2ND DOSE. President Rodrigo Duterte receives his first shot of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine on May 3, 2021. Malacañang on Tuesday (June 8) said Duterte will receive the second dose of Sinopharm vaccine after the Food and Drug Administration granted Sinopharm an emergency use authorization. (Screengrab from Senator Bong Go’s Facebook livestream)
MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will receive his second dose of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine developed by China’s state-owned pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
This developed after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Sinopharm an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the administration of its Covid-19 vaccines.
“Kasama na po diyan ‘yung second dose ni Presidente dahil hindi pa po nagkakaroon ng second dose ang ating Presidente dahil inaantay nga po itong EUA (That includes the second dose [of the vaccine that will be administered to] the President. The President has yet to take the second dose because he is waiting for the EUA),” Roque said in a virtual presser.
Duterte received the first Sinopharm vaccine jab on May 3. At that time, Sinopharm has yet to secure an EUA from FDA.
Initially, FDA only issued a compassionate use license for the administration of 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine to the members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG).
China earlier donated additional Sinopharm vaccine doses, in addition to the 10,000 vials expected to be donated to PSG personnel.
Duterte, however, ordered on May 6 the pullout of Sinopharm vaccines over concerns that the Chinese vaccine has yet to be cleared for emergency use by the country’s FDA.
Hence, the country would no longer return the 1,000 donated Sinopharm vaccine jabs, Roque said.
Roque added that Duterte’s second dose would come from 1,000 vials from donated Sinopharm vaccines.
“Kaya nga po kumuha ang DOH (Department of Health) ng EUA para dito sa mga donated na 1,000 na Sinopharm (The reason why DOH applied for an EUA is because that will be used for the donated 1,000 Sinopharm vaccines),” he said.
China approved in December last year the use of Sinopharm vaccine after its developer said the vaccine showed 79.34 percent efficacy based on an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials. (PNA)
