EVEN without an emergency use authorization (EUA), Palace lawyers are studying the option of using the compassionate special permit (CSP) issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Sinopharm to legitimize President Rodrigo Duterte’s bid to be inoculated with a vaccine brand of his choice.
“They are studying kung pupuwedeng gamitin iyong compassionate use para legal basis for the President to have the Sinopharm vaccine. But it is still being studied by the Malacañang legal office,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Roque told reporters that Duterte, being a commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), should be allowed to use the Sinopharm vaccine under the compassionate use license.
Earlier reports hinted at the President preferring to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with China’s Sinopharm vaccine.
The FDA has approved the compassionate use of the Sinopharm vaccine for the benefit of the members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG), a unit under the AFP.
Sinopharm has yet to apply for an EUA, which would allow the pharmaceutical firm to bring its vaccine to the Philippines for the use of the public.