By Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA (Reuters) – Some Philippine soldiers and cabinet ministers have already received COVID-19 vaccine injections, officials said Monday, despite the lack of approval by the country’s health ministry, it is essential to ensure safety.
Interior Minister Eduardo Ano said some cabinet members had already received COVID-19 vaccines, and the army chief, Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, said some troops had been vaccinated, but the number was not large. No one said what kind of vaccine was administered.
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that all vaccines should first be evaluated by experts, and that only “vaccines that have been approved and found safe should be administered”.
Rolando Enrique Domingo, head of the Food and Drug Administration, said Philippine regulators have not yet approved a COVID-19 vaccine, making the importation, distribution and sale of one illegal.
Domingo warned the public that unapproved vaccines exposed them to ‘all kinds of dangers’ and told CNN Philippines that side effects are possible ‘especially if you do not know how these things were handled’.
So far, only Pfizer has applied for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines for emergencies, while Sinovac, Gamaleya, Janssen and Johnson & Johnson’s applications for late trial have yet to be approved.
Health Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the ministry had no information on the vaccination of the soldiers, and Colonel Edgard Arevalo, military spokeswoman, said there was no vaccination approved by the leadership of the armed forces.
Arevalo said the recipients included members of a special security unit assigned to President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to Rox spokesman Rox, Duterte has not yet been vaccinated. He said he had no problem getting soldiers to get the shots and protect themselves.
Duterte said during a television meeting with health officials on Saturday that almost all soldiers had already been vaccinated.
He said ‘a lot’, without determining who in the Philippines received a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
Synopharm could not be immediately reached for comment.
Asked if the soldier’s vaccination had been approved by the president’s office, Sobejana said: “Well, our president is, of course, our commander-in-chief.”
(Additional reporting by Roxanne Liu in Beijing; edited by Martin Petty)