DOJ: People who bought, promoted use of unlisted COVID-19 jabs may be held liable

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. INQUIRER FILE/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Those who received the unregistered COVID-19 vaccines will only be held liable if they buy or promote the use of these vaccines, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

“Under our existing laws, a person who freely and voluntarily gets himself inoculated with an unregistered or unauthorized drug or vaccine does not incur any criminal liability, unless he himself has caused its unlawful procurement or promotes its use by other people,” Guevarra said.

The Presidential Security Group (PSG) is currently under fire for having a number of its personnel inoculated with coronavirus vaccines yet-to-be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

READ: PSG chief: Personnel vaccinated as early as September sans Duterte nod

PSG chief Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante revealed that the close-in security personnel of President Rodrigo Duterte, with the help of their medical team, administered the vaccines among themselves.

Although vaccination is a “matter of personal survival”, the Justice chief stressed that it is important that laws on vaccine approval and administration be strictly observed, “for the benefit of everyone.”

He noted that under the FDA law, manufacture, importation, sale, offering for sale, distribution, transfer, promotion, etc. of any health product that is unregistered with the FDA is prohibited and punishable with penalty of fine and/or imprisonment.

But Guevarra added that those “who knowingly or willfully administer an unregistered vaccine may be held liable under the Medical Practice Act of 1959.”

The DOJ chief has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation on the smuggling of COVID-19 vaccines into the country.

KGA