By John Clifford Lintao
TAKING cue from a viral photo that had him being injected with the China-made CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has admitted that such is just a “photo ops.”
Lorenzana categorically denied receiving the Sinovac jab in his visit to the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City on Friday to observe the COVID-19 vaccination program using Sinovac.
“No, I did not. Photo ops lang,” Lorenzana said amid reports on him to have received the vaccine on Friday.
According to him, Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III dissuaded him from taking Sinovac and that there are appropriate vaccines for his age, and that would be those developed by AstraZeneca. He is 72 year old.
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“This should be administered by vaccination providers to prevent COVID-19 in clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old,” FDA Director General Dr. Eric Domingo said.
As for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, Domingo earlier said it can be administered on individuals aged 18 years and above. The FDA granted EUA to AstraZeneca’s vaccine in January.
The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the country officially started on Monday after the Philippines received the donation of 600,000 doses of Sinovac CoronaVac vaccines from China.
A total of 487,200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca also arrived on Thursday in the Philippines.