The aircraft carrying China’s donation of 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine arrives in the Philippines Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. (Photo courtesy of PCOO)
MANILA, Philippines — While many world leaders have tried to enhance confidence on the China-made Sinovac coronavirus vaccine by getting inoculated publicly, some of Philippine leaders have opted out during the first day of the vaccination rollout on Monday.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who has faced censure over his administration’s alleged preference for Chinese-made vaccines, had initially said that he will not get vaccinated in public because he would be “injected in the buttocks,” his spokesperson said. He later on said clarified that the President is willing to be inoculated with Sinovac’s CoronaVac, but “behind closed doors,” in the same way as the royals of England did.
Other Cabinet officials involved in the vaccination program likewise begged off from getting the first Sinovac jabs, donated by China.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana have said that they will not receive Sinovac shots, citing their age.
Duterte will turn 76 this month, while Duque and Lorenzana are 64 and 72 years old, respectively.
“FTD (Francisco T. Duque) will not be vaccinated with SINOVAC as EUA (emergency use authorization) provisions exclude 60 and above. He also underscores that we will follow the prioritization framework, and will ensure that limited doses will go to the HCWs (healthcare workers) first,” the DOH told reporters in a Viber message on Sunday night.
“I wanted to be the first to receive the Sinovac vaccine in DND to build trust and confidence among personnel but health experts advised that those over 59 should not be vaccinated. Besides, the front liners will have first priority,” said Lorenzana on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/del_lorenzana/status/1366020766739824644
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier said that Sinovac is not recommended for the elderly and HCWs who are frequently exposed to patients with coronavirus disease.
The FDA later on clarified that Sinovac is only recommended for clinically healthy individuals between the ages 18 to 59 years old due to its low efficacy rate.
Sinovac previously faced backlash for reportedly having only a 50.4 percent efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic infections in its late-stage trial in Brazil.
Despite this, the government proceeded with the bid to acquire Sinovac shots, on top of the 600,000 donated by China.
Meanwhile, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and testing czar Vince Dizon have tried to fill in the gap by getting their first shots of Sinovac.
In contrast
The failure of the top government officials who are directly involved in the vaccination program however is in sharp contrast with their Turkish and Hong Kong counterparts who chose to get vaccinated with Sinovac despite their advanced age in order to allay fears about the vaccine’s safety.
The 67-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was administered a jab of the Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine in front of cameras on January 14.
“The number of vaccines in the first stage is clear. Now, another 25-30 million doses will come in the period ahead. We want to continue this rapidly,” he told the reporters outside the Ankara City Hospital.
READ: LIST: World leaders vaccinated against Covid-19
Hong Kong leaders and top officials were also inoculated during a televised event to bolster public confidence and reassure the residents to take the vaccine.
Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam, 63 years old, was vaccinated with CoronaVac last week.
“This requires the full collaboration of the people of Hong Kong to help Hong Kong’s society to recover as soon as possible,” said Lam.
Lam’s cabinet ministers including Health Secretary Sophia Chan and Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung, who are 62 years old and 70 years old, respectively, likewise received shots of the Sinovac vaccine.