MANILA – Some 100,000 Chinese nationals living and working in the Philippines have reportedly been inoculated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine despite the absence of approval from local regulators.
Civic leader Teresita Ang See said the vaccinations started in November last year, but was oblivious how the Chinese-developed vaccine entered the country.
Most of the Chinese nationals who received the COVID-19 shots were workers for the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), she added.
“Okay lang sa akin na mabakunahan sila because we don’t have much control [over] them. Wala tayong basis to touch base with them, especially the POGO workers,” Ang See said.
“I’m glad that they are being vaccinated because it protects us also if they’re protected,” she added. “These Chinese nationals had confidence in the vaccine.”
Sought for comment, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque and Philippine Ambassador to China Jose “Chito” Sta. Romana could not confirm the veracity of Ang See’s statement.
“Wala po akong impormasyon about diyan,” Roque said in a virtual press conference on Monday. “Kung totoo man eh ‘di mabuti. [We have] 100,000 less possible carriers of COVID-19.”
“Unless they came back to China and had the vaccination here in China, as to whether they were brought out of China, I cannot confirm or deny. I certainly don’t know,” Sta. Romana added.
The Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 prohibits the manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, and distribution, among others, of “any health product that is adulterated, unregistered or misbranded.”
Those convicted of the crime will be sentenced to one to 10 years of imprisonment or a fine of P50,000 to P500,000, according to the law./PN
