Sinopharm booster had no adverse effect on Duterte, says Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte did not experience any adverse effect after receiving his Covid-19 booster shot, according to Malacañang.

“The President did not experience any bad effects,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles assured the public on Wednesday.

Duterte, 76, had received another Sinopharm Covid-19 as his booster although the health department has no recommended brand yet to recipients of two vaccine doses from the Chinese manufacturer.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, chairperson of the national Covid-19 vaccination operations center, said in a congressional inquiry on Tuesday that officials are having a hard time coming up with a decision due to the lack of studies.

Nograles, meanwhile, explained that Duterte got a go signal from his doctor to receive another Sinovac vaccine as his booster shot.

“His vaccination is something between him and his physician,” the Palace official said.

Duterte announced in passing that he received his Sinopharm booster in a prerecorded public address on 6 January.

He received his first dose of the Sinopharm jab in May last year and the second dose two months later.

Booster shots in the Philippines may be given at least three months after the second dose of a primary-two dose vaccine or at least two months after the primary single-dose vaccine is given.

The Covid-19 vaccine brands that are currently part of the Philippines’ inventory and have been cleared for emergency use are those made by Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute.