Lawmaker Says Gov’t Choosing Sinovac As Vaccine Priority Is Nonsense
CHOOSING SINOVAC IS NONSENSE – According to a lawmaker, the Philippine government choosing a vaccine that’s only 50% effective is nonsense.
Currently, the Philippines is preparing procurement for a COVID-19 vaccine for 2021. Meanwhile, the country’s vaccine czar emphasized that the government would give priority to China’s Sinovac vaccine.
However, Sinovac’s vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 was found to be only 50% raising several concerns. Because of this, Agusan del Norte Rep. Lawrence Fortun said:
“It would be nonsense of Filipinos and of their government to choose the China vaccine at this point. Simply out of the question“.
Furthermore, the lawmakers emphasized that the government must not give into pressure from the “Chinese government, the Chinese embassy or any of their proxies.”
Additionally, Fortun said that the government should abandon previous verbal agreements they may have had with the Chinese government. Moreover, he said that the PH should “politely” decline offers regarding China’s leading vaccine candidate.
According to an article from Inquirer, Fortun asserted that the DOST and the DOH must not “give way to any pressure from either the Chinese government or our national political leaders as regards Sinovac“.
Earlier, the DOST said a 50% efficacy of a vaccine was “acceptable” as it was within the World Health Organization’s minimum requirement. As such, Sinovac has been dubbed the “Pasang-awa Vaccine”.
Meanwhile, lawmakers such as Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Franklin Drilon expressed their dismay regarding Sinovac. As per the article, Zuburi said the vaccine’s efficacy percentage was “a joke” and “totally unacceptable”.
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