MANILA, Jan 19 (NNN-PNA) – Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, noted the safety of vaccines development by China’s biopharmaceutical companies, defending his government’s decision to buy them.
Duterte said, in a late-night televised national address last night that, China’s vaccines, including those from Sinovac and Sinopharm, are being used in Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and that there have been no deaths reported so far.
Duterte said, on the same occasion last week that, the Chinese vaccines are “safe, sure, and secure.”
The Philippine government said, it secured 25 million doses of Sinovac-developed CoronaVac vaccines, which is seeking an emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines.
The Philippines is in talks with at least seven makers, to procure 148 million doses of vaccines in 2021.
It aims to vaccinate 50 to 70 million people, or more than 60 percent of the total population this year.
The Department of Health (DOH), reported 2,163 new cases yesterday, the highest in more than two months, in the Southeast Asian country.– NNN-PNA
