MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday expressed optimism that the reported deaths of Indonesian doctors who were fully inoculated with China-made pandemic jab Sinovac won't worsen vaccine hesitation in the Philippines.
The New York Times has quoted the Indonesian Medical Association as saying that at least 20 of the 401 doctors who died in the Southeast Asian country were fully vaccinated with Sinovac. It has also cited information from the Indonesian Doctors Association that more than 350 medical workers in Kudus who were fully inoculated with Sinovac have tested positive for COVID-19.
Sinovac is one of the COVID-19 vaccine brands being administered in the Philippines, which aims to inoculate at least 58 million this year. Twelve million doses of Sinovac jabs have been delivered to the Philippines as of Monday.
"No because first, Sinovac has been approved not just by the Philippine FDA (Food and Drug Administration) but also by the WHO (World Health Organization)," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing when asked whether the developments in Indonesia would affect the vaccine hesitancy in the Philippines.
"Second, many Chinese people used it and we did not see it happening to them," he added.
Roque said the causes of the deaths of Indonesian doctors are still unknown.
"Let us allow our experts to conduct a study (on the cause of deaths of Indonesian doctors). Meanwhile, I am not a doctor and I will put my faith in the experts who say that Sinovac, just like other vaccines we distribute, is safe and effective," the Palace spokesman said.
"There has been no change in the opinion of experts...that all vaccines are equally effective against all variants," he added.
A Social Weather Stations poll conducted from April 28 to May 2 found that only 32% of Filipinos were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pressed whether the Philippines would also impose a travel ban on Indonesia, which has reported cases of the more infectious Delta variant, Roque replied: I’m sure that will be considered by the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases)."
Roque said the government has been imposing strict measures on backdoor entry points in Mindanao to prevent the entry of more transmissible COVID-19 variants.
"All repatriation of Filipinos from that area, not just from Indonesia but also from Sabah, have to be organized repatriation," he added.
Roque said a total of 10,065,414 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered as of June 27. More than 7.53 million have received their first dose while 2.5 million have been fully vaccinated.
The Philippines' average daily administered doses in the last seven days is more than 236,000. The country aims to distribute 500,000 doses per day to achieve herd immunity by yearend.