By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine defence minister said on Wednesday that unapproved COVID-19 vaccines given to President Rodrigo Duterte’s military security detail had been smuggled into the country, but called the move “justified”.
FILE PHOTO: Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana listens to questions during a news conference inside the military headquarters of Camp Aquinaldo in Quezon city, metro Manila, Philippines March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo
News of the special troop unit being inoculated as early as September has caused a stir among activists, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yet to approve any COVID-19 vaccines and no set timeline for when health workers would receive one.
PSG chief: Personnel vaccinated as early as September sans Duterte nod
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Lorenzana: PSG personnel received smuggled COVID-19 vaccines
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MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte s top lieutenants are struggling to contain the fallout from an unsanctioned Covid-19 vaccination of top Cabinet ministers and members of an elite military unit amid cries for accountability from government critics and health advocates.
On Wednesday (Dec 30), Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in an interview with ABS-CBN News that the vaccine doses used were smuggled but that he felt what happened was justified .
Earlier this week, Mr Lorenzana and other senior officials confirmed that at least one minister and Mr Duterte s bodyguards were given jabs of China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.
Health regulators said they would investigate since this vaccine has yet to receive sanction for use in the Philippines.