The Department of Health has asked the Foreign Affairs to confirm reports that some countries ban travelers vaccinated with Sinovac or Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
According to social media posts that quoted the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia, travelers who received the said Chinese COVID-19 vaccines would be denied entry.
The European Union allegedly will implement a similar ban, according to online reports.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Department of Health has asked the DFA to confirm such reports, adding no official communication from the GACA and EU regarding the ban.
“Nakita natin ang social media cards where sinasabi na itong mga bansang ito ay mayroon lang specific na bakuna para sa mga papasok sa kanilang lugar,” she said in an online press briefing.
(We saw these social media cards claiming that these countries require a specific brand of vaccine for those who want to enter their territories.)
Ban on travelers vaccinated with Sinovac, Sinopharm probed
“We have already coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) para ma-verify nila (so they can verify) if these are really official communications because the DFA has not received any official communication from the embassies of these specific countries,” she added.
“We are trying to verify this information kung ito ay (if these are) authentic,” Vergeire said.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. also said the reports banning those vaccinated with Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines are baseless. He noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use listing (EUL). WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization was running tests on Sinovac’s CoronaVac.
According to Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO’s representative to the Philippines, CoronaVac could receive its EUL in the next few weeks.
He said all vaccines against COVID-19 are used to prevent severe disease and death, “so we are not advocating any preference for one or the other.”
“The Covax Facility vaccines are used to maximize the impact on the pandemic by reducing deaths, by ensuring that the frontline health care workers are protected and reducing congestion in hospital settings,” he said.
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