Philippine President Duterte receives first of all dose of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine
04 May, 2021
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte received his first of all dose of Sinopharm's vaccine against COVID-19 on Monday (May 3) to encourage reluctant Filipinos to get inoculated and avoid the spread of the virus, his closest aide said.
Duterte, 76, got inoculated to protect himself from COVID-19 and motivate the general public to get vaccinated, Christopher Move, a good senator and his closest aide, said in a good statement.
Ahead of acquiring his first dose, which was streamed go on Facebook, Duterte said: "I feel good and I have been expecting this shot, vaccination a long time ago."
Six found in 10 Filipinos are actually unwilling to come to be vaccinated because of safety concerns, according to Pulse Asia's survey of 2,400 respondents between Feb 22 and Mar 3.
In a similar poll in November, only 47 % said they might refuse a vaccination.
The Philippines has recorded 1.06 million COVID-19 cases and 17,525 deaths, the next highest in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia. Among those who contracted and later recovered from COVID-19 are Duterte's spokesman and defence minister.
Sinopharm's emergency make use of application in the Philippines is still pending, however the country's food and drugs regulator possesses approved the "compassionate use" of 10,000 Sinopharm doses for Duterte's security detail.
The vaccine, administered to Duterte by medical minister, was covered by the compassionate use permit, said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
Duterte had repeatedly expressed his preference for vaccines made by China and Russia.
The Philippines has administered 1.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, mostly which were from China's Sinovac Biotech, because it started immunisation get on Mar 1.
It plans to vaccinate up to 70 million of its 108 million population this season to attain herd immunity and safely reopen the pandemic-battered economy.
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