MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez are already “immune” from COVID-19 as they got vaccinated to fight off the virus, according to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Saturday.
In an interview over radio station DWIZ, Sotto was first asked would he be one of the first to get a dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 once it becomes available.
“Meron ngang ganun eh. Si Senator Lacson ang tapang, immunized na ‘yan eh. Nagpa-injection na ‘yun eh,” Sotto answered.
(There are people who are like that, Senator Lacson is tough, he’s already immunized. He already got vaccinated.)
“Nauna na ‘yun, matapang ‘yun eh, tsaka si Martin Romualdez,” Sotto added.
(He already got it first, also Martin Romualdez.)
Asked what vaccine the two had taken, Sotto answered: ‘Yun ang di ko alam pero parang pareho ata nung sa Pfizer eh.”
(That I don’t know but I think it’s the same with Pfizer.)
According to the Senate President, Lacson has not felt any side effect of the vaccine.
“Wala, he’s now like he’s 30 years old eh. Tapos tawag dito, bihira na nga mag-mask eh. Dati nakita mo ‘yun naka-mask, naka-face shield, di ba? Ngayon pag nakaupo lang dun, wala nang mask eh,” he said.
(None, he’s now like 30 years old. Then he rarely now wears a mask. Before you would see him wearing a face mask and a face shield. Now he just sits there without a mask.)
“Immunized na siya eh (He’s already immunized),” Sotto added of Lacson.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, in a separate interview with DWIZ, attested to Sotto’s claim that Lacson has gotten a dose of the vaccine. Zubiri added that Lacson is part of the “experimental trials” for a possible vaccine being conducted here in the country.
“Kasama yata siya sa mga experimental trials dito sa Pilipinas,” Zubiri said. “Matapang po si Senator Lacson, eh alam mo naman pag yung bakuna, delikado, mukhang matapang at sinubukan niya.”
(I think he’s part of the experimental trials here in the Philippines. Senator Lacson is tough, but you know the vaccine when its new, it’s dangerous, he’s tough and he tried it right away.)
“Actually nag-offer din po siya sa amin pero maghihintay na lang po ako (Actually he offered for us to get vaccinated, but I thought I will just wait),” Zubiri added.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to Lacson and Romualdez’s camp for confirmation on Sotto’s statement, but they have yet to reply as of this writing.
Caveat
The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any experimental vaccine or medicine for COVID-19, though it has sought emergency use authorization (EUA) from President Rodrigo Duterte once any of the leading vaccine manufacturers have made one available.
The government earlier said it is unlikely to grant emergency approval to COVID-19 vaccines whose clinical trials were done overseas.
China’s Sinovac Biotech is close to conducing clinical trials for its vaccines in the country as it passed the pre-screening of the country’s vaccine experts panel. In October, Sinovac submitted to the FDA its application to conduct Phase 3 of clinical trials in the country.
On the other hand, Pfizer, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, said its vaccine was more than 90 percent effective based on a large-scale clinical test, and it has sought EUA in the United States, and is expected to roll out its vaccine soon.
Its declarations must be verified in the Philippines, however, officials said.