FILE (Photo by Michael Ciaglo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — The Manila City Government on Monday formally banned the sale of COVID-19 vaccines by issuing an ordinance amid reports of vaccine-for-sale schemes which has prompted the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to mount an investigation.
Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso signed City Ordinance No. 8740 effectively prohibiting the sale of coronavirus vaccines until such time that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the go-signal for vaccine commercialization.
No coronavirus vaccine in the world has yet been given authority to be sold commercially. All approved new coronavirus vaccines only have an emergency use authorization.
“Bawal magbenta ng bakuna. Bawal kumita sa bakuna whether organization, institution, tao or korporasyon. Bawal rin ikaltas ng sweldo ng tao iyong bakunang pwedeng ibigay ng private sector in Manila,” Domagoso said in a press briefing.
(Selling vaccines are not allowed. No one should profit off vaccines, whether organization, institution, people or corporation, nor should the private sector in Manila deduct the vaccine cost to its employees.)
City Ordinance No. 8740 was created to “discourage the manufacture, sale, and proliferation of fake COVID-19 vaccines for profit to the detriment of its citizenry.”
Based on its provisions, violators would be punished with a fine of P5,000 and a jail term of up to six months.
But if the violation is committed by a corporation or other juridical entity, the ordinance said “the directors, officers, employees or other officers thereof responsible for the violation shall be charged and penalized.”
Further, the ordinance said corporations and other entities found breaching the city rule may also face revocation of their business licenses as they may be barred from doing business in the city.
As of Monday, Manila’s total COVID-19 infections were at 62,428, of which 1,550 were active cases. The nation’s capital city also recorded the recovery of 59,716 patients and death of 1,162 since the pandemic hit last year.
“We will continue to protect the interest of every citizen of the City of Manila and those individuals who will come in and out of the city. You will be protected here,” the local chief executive said.