Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 6) — President Rodrigo Duterte can still complete his COVID-19 vaccination if his order to return all Sinopharm doses to China because the vaccine has no emergency use authorization (EUA) yet from Philippine regulators, an infectious disease expert said on Thursday.
Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the Vaccine Expert Panel under the Department of Science and Technology, said Duterte can receive another Chinese manufactured vaccine Sinovac four weeks after he received his Sinopharm shot.
“Kung halimbawa hindi na pwede ang Sinopharm, meron namang isang bakuna na magkahawig sa Sinopharm na nabigyan ng approval natin, ang Sinovac,” he said in a forum by the DOH.
[Translation: If Sinopharm can no longer be used, there is a vaccine that is similar to Sinopharm that has been given approval, that is Sinovac.]
Solante said it is “possible” to use different brands since Sinopharm and Sinovac are both inactivated vaccines wherein the disease-carrying virus were killed using chemicals, heat, or radiation.
Duterte received flak after he was inoculated on Monday with Sinopharm, which has not yet applied for emergency use in the Philippines but granted compassionate special permit.
On Wednesday, he apologized for taking the vaccine, asking the Chinese government to withdraw its donation of 1,000 Sinopharm vaccines.
Solante stressed that the Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) is against distributing vaccines without an EUA since such vaccines have not gone through the review of medical and regulatory experts.
He added the Chinese state-owned vaccine manufacturer can still apply for emergency use in the Philippines.
“Ang Sinopharm walang sinusubmit na documents sa VEP para maassess namin. Kung meron sana noon bago nagpabakuna ang presidente, pwede namin i-review and we can give our recommendation to the FDA,” the infectious disease doctor said.
Solante added, “Ang second dose pwede ipahabol, but Sinopharm has to produce the data and submit it to VEP and FDA.”
[Translation: Sinopharm has not submitted documents for the VEP to assess. If they submitted before the President’s vaccination, we could have reviewed it and given our recommendation to the FDA. Sinopharm can still make it in time for the President’s second dose, but it has to submit the data to the VEP and FDA.]
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said they will keep Duterte’s second Sinopharm dose so he can still complete his vaccination.
He said the VEP has been studying the possibility of mixing-and-matching different vaccine brands. There is an ongoing major trial in the United Kingdom to examine whether different coronavirus vaccines can safely be used for two-dose regimens.
