Palace won't order PSG to give info on unregistered vaccines

Malacañang will not order the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to provide the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with information regarding the use of unregistered COVID-19 vaccines in 2020.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque stated that it is not the Palace's role to interfere in the probe, as investigative agencies are tasked with such matters.

This comes after FDA Director General Eric Domingo revealed that the agency had yet to receive any information from the PSG about the unregistered Sinopharm vaccine doses they received and used last year.

The FDA had only granted compassionate use authorization for the Sinopharm vaccine to the PSG Hospital in February.

President Rodrigo Duterte received his Sinopharm vaccine, which was administered by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, under a compassionate use special permit (CSP) that had not been vetted by Filipino experts.

Duterte has since apologized for receiving the unregistered vaccine, despite it being covered by an FDA-issued CSP.