The Food and Drug Administration clarified Tuesday that President Rodrigo Duterte is covered by the compassionate special permit (CSP) earlier granted by the agency to China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
“Ito ‘yung [permit na] hiningi ng PSG dati bago pa dumating ang mga bakuna dito sa Pilipinas. Mayroon silang donation from China at hiningan ito ng special permit para nga maprotektahan ang Presidente at mukhang ‘yun din po ang ginamit sa ating pangulo kagabi,” FDA director general Eric Domingo said in an interview on Dobol B TV.
(This is the permit that the PSG had applied for when they received a donation from China. They asked for a special permit to protect the President and it seems that it is the same one that was used for the President’s vaccination last night.)
Doming added that wives and partners of Presidential Security Group members are also covered by the CSP.
In February, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the compassionate use of Sinopharm, a COVID-19 vaccine from China, for President Rodrigo Duterte’s Presidential Security Group (PSG) members.
According to, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the compassionate use will cover 10,000 doses.
President Rodrigo Duterte received his first shot of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
Compassionate use permit for Sinopharm covers Duterte: FDA
According to Senator Bong Go, Duterte’s former aid, Duterte got vaccinated against the virus to encourage the Filipinos to get inoculated.
Duterte’s vaccination was streamed live on Facebook. “I feel good and I have been expecting this shot, vaccination a long time ago,” the President said before he received the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
The President also said he is not sure if his body will be able to recover in case he is hit by COVID-19.
This is the reason, he said, so he is afraid of being hit by such a virus.
“Kapag ako ang tinamaan, sa tanda ko, there is no way of telling, whether I will live to see the light of day the following day. Iyan ang ano diyan,” he said on Monday.
The President called on the public not to be complacent in this pandemic and to remain vigilant against COVID-19
“Iyang sakit na iyan, it is very… I cannot even find the word to describe it. It is very lethal,” he said.
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