MANILA — The Philippines’ health department said on Wednesday it will investigate the illegal use of unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines, after a presidential advisor admitted to receiving shots of a Sinopharm vaccine smuggled into the country.
Ramon Tulfo, a celebrity radio and television host and special envoy to China, revealed in his newspaper column on Feb. 20 and again in an interview with One News that he received a dose in October from a batch that was also used by President Rodrigo Duterte’s security detail.
“I got hold of vaccines from a friend who smuggled it into the country,” Tulfo told One News.
News last month of Duterte’s bodyguard unit taking the vaccine, which it …
Keep on reading: DOH to probe use of illegal COVID-19 vaccines after Tulfo revelation