Xinhua | Updated: 2021-05-04 11:00 Share CLOSE Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, left, receives his first dose of China s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine jab in Manila, May 3, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
MANILA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte received his first dose of China s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on Monday night, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said. His first dose was covered by the compassionate use permit issued to the Presidential Security Group (PSG) hospital by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (of the Philippines), Roque said in a brief statement.
Duterte s longtime aide and senator Christopher Bong Go posted on social media a video showing Health Secretary Francisco Duque administering the vaccine in Duterte s left arm. In the video, Duterte, 76, said he was feeling good.
Monday, 03 May 2021 09:42 PM MYT
MANILA, May 3 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte received his first shot of a Covid-19 vaccine Monday, weeks after saying he would waive his chance to get inoculated, as the country struggles to secure jabs amid a resurgence in infections.
Officials said Duterte was given the vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm the same one secretly administered to members of his security team last year before any shot had been given regulatory approval.
Photos posted on the Facebook page of a close aide showed a masked Duterte, wearing an unbuttoned denim shirt over a white T-shirt and braces sitting in a chair as Health Secretary Francisco Duque injected him.
Published May 4, 2021, 2:26 PM
President Duterte chose state-owned and Chinese-made Sinopharm over other coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines because of the recommendation of his doctors, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday, May 4.
President Duterte receives the COVID-19 vaccine from Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on May 3, 2021 (Photo: Sen. Go/Facebook)
“Unfortunately, I was not privy doon sa mga (to the) conversation ng presidente sa kanyang mga (of the president with his) doctor but I understand ang (the) choice ni presidente (of the President) was guided also by his doctors,” he said in his virtual press briefing.
The Chief Executive particularly chose a vaccine with an inactivated virus as the platform because this has been used for at least 140 years, Roque added.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia (Governor Gwendolyn Garcia FB Page)
Garcia agreed with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan, who previously proposed that foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated should already be allowed to enter the city.
Garcia said before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Cebu was frequently visited most by tourists from Korea, China and Japan.
The governor said the province can set up a “tourism bubble plan subject to protocols that the province has been implementing.”
“So, why can’t we do the same for other countries that have also been able to manage their COVID system…that have an established COVID management system as what we are showing here in Cebu,” Garcia said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros (Senate of the Philippines)
What the country needs is accountability from government officials, and not Duque’s recognition, Hontiveros stressed.
“Tama na itong linggo-linggong pa-awarding ceremony ng administrasyon (Enough of this weekly awarding ceremony by the administration),” the opposition senator said in a statement.
“Walang pinupuntahan ang pagtatakipan nila live on national television habang nadadagdagan ang mga nagugutom, nagkakasakit at namamatay dahil sa palpak nilang pagtugon sa COVID-19 (There is no sense with our officials covering up for each other on national television while those who go hungry, get sick, and die increase by the day because of their failed COVID-19 response),” she added.