President Duterte was waiting for another Chinese COVID-19 vaccine brand as per his doctor’s advice.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said in a press briefing that he’s waiting for another Chinese COVID-19 vaccine brand as per his doctor’s advice.
This, even though the Philippines received 600,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the Chinese government.
According to President Duterte, he had a doctor who thought I should be vaccinated with another brand, but he didn’t mention the name of the COVID-19 vaccine brand.
In a report on CNN Philippines, President Duterte said that his doctor was eyeing another “Chinese brand”. While it wasn’t clear if the President was referring to China’s Sinopharm brand, he earlier expressed his preference for a particular pharmaceutical company.
“Kaming mga 70 [years old], we have to be careful. Ako naman, may doctor akong sarili. She thinks that another brand, I would not mention it… ‘Yun nalang ang hinihintay nya and hinihintay ko. In the matter of getting the vaccine, it is to my advantage… No doubt about it. As to what brand, ‘yan ang problema, because it is left to the sound discretion of my doctor,” President Duterte said.
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The said briefing came after the arrival of 600,000 Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine doses, which were donated by the Chinese government.
Earlier, the country’s Food and Drug Administration said that Sinovac wasn’t the most ideal COVID-19 vaccine for senior citizens, as well as healthcare workers constantly exposed to COVID-19, because of its lower efficacy rate of 50.4%.
However, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire later said that Sinovac’s CoronaVac was still 100% effective against moderate and severe symptoms of COVID-19 while clinical trials showed lower efficacy in preventing mild symptoms.
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