Bato thanks PSG for early COVID-19 vaccine, calls them 'guinea pigs'

Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa expressed gratitude to the Presidential Security Group (PSG) members who received an unregistered COVID-19 vaccine, referring to them as "guinea pigs" in an experiment.

Dela Rosa stated that the public should not make an issue out of the early inoculation of PSG members, as it was their personal decision to protect President Rodrigo Duterte.

He acknowledged that the vaccine's effectiveness has not yet been established by the FDA but thanked the PSG for their willingness to be inoculated.

PSG commander Brigadier General Jesus Durante III admitted that the vaccine was acquired for free and that President Duterte was informed only after the inoculation.

Durante took full responsibility for the action but declined to reveal the source of the vaccine.

Dela Rosa believes that the PSG did not violate any laws by receiving the vaccine before its FDA approval.

Malacañang also received flak for the early inoculation, which Duterte himself revealed during a recent speech.

The President mentioned that some Cabinet members and soldiers have received the Sinopharm vaccine from China, but the brand administered to the PSG was not confirmed.