PSG received COVID-19 vaccines ahead of FDA approval

Members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) were the first in the Armed Forces of the Philippines to receive COVID-19 vaccines, with some personnel vaccinated as early as September and completing their second dose in October.

PSG chief Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III stated that the vaccination drive was to ensure President Rodrigo Duterte's health and safety.

He emphasized that the decision to take the risk was a courageous step that greatly supports the PSG's mandate to protect the nation's highest leader.

Durante confirmed that PSG personnel injected the vaccines themselves, with nobody outside the PSG involved in the process.

He admitted that he asked for a donation of the COVID-19 vaccines and hinted that they could come from "a person, or a state, or whatever."

This vaccination occurred despite the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not yet having approved any COVID-19 vaccine, and President Duterte stating that many Filipinos, including military personnel, received Sinopharm vaccines which lacked FDA approval.