As Philippine government officials continue to defend, dismiss, or be oblivious to unauthorized and illegal COVID-19 vaccinations, other countries have gone ahead to roll out vaccination campaigns deemed safe by health authorities.
In the Philippines, the first known vaccinations were not only unauthorized, they were allotted for the President’s men.
On December 26, President Rodrigo Duterte said “almost all” soldiers had already undergone jabs.
“Halos lahat ng sundalo natusukan na. I have to be frank, I have to tell the truth…marami nang nagpatusok and lahat up to now wala akong narinig for the select few, not all soldiers, not all soldiers hindi pa kasi policy eh,” he said.
(Almost all soldiers have been vaccinated. I have to be frank, I have to tell the truth…Many have already been vaccinated and I haven’t heard for the select few, not all soldiers, not all soldiers because it is not the policy yet.)
Two days later, officials confirmed that some Cabinet officials and soldiers had already been vaccinated against the coronavirus, ahead of hundreds of thousands of exhausted health workers across the Philippines.
This comes despite the absence of an approved vaccine against COVID-19 in the country. It took the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by surprise, prompting the agency to investigate. Only the FDA can approve vaccines for safety and efficacy.
The Presidential Security Group later took responsibility – although Duterte ordered them not to cooperate with investigations. Subsequently, the Armed Forces of the Philippines stopped its probe into the illegal vaccinations, too.
In other parts of the world, approved vaccines have been administered on health workers and vulnerable populations. Here’s a look at some of them:
United Kingdom
90-year-old Margaret Keenan was the first person in the world to receive a fully tested and approved COVID-19 vaccine on December 8. She received the Pfizer shot in Coventry, England. (READ: Filipino nurse in UK gives world’s first approved COVID-19 vaccine)
By Christmas, the British government said more than 600,000 people in the UK had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They were administered to care home residents and social care staff.
United States
In the country with the worst outbreak in the world, a New York City intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive a coronavirus vaccine on December 14.
By then, more than 300,000 Americans had died from the virus. The Pfizer vaccine was granted emergency use authorization a few days prior.
The initial doses were earmarked for health workers, nursing home residents, essential workers, elderly people, and people with chronic health conditions.
Germany
A small number of people at a care home for the elderly were inoculated on December 26 – a day before Germany’s official start of its vaccination campaign. The first was a 101-year-old woman.
The German government is mulling over delaying second shots to make scarce supplies go further. This came alongside criticism of the health minister, who said the government failed to procure enough vaccines.
Singapore
Singapore began rolling out its vaccination campaign on December 30, starting with a 46-year-old nurse who helps screen COVID-19 cases, followed by 30 of her colleagues at the National Center for Infectious Diseases.
The city-state is among the first among Asian countries to begin a vaccination campaign, and the first in Asia to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government has also made purchase agreements and early downpayments for vaccines from other developers, including Moderna and Sinovac.
To assure the public about the vaccines’ safety, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he and his colleagues would be among its first recipients.
United Arab Emirates
Before the end of 2020, the United Arab Emirates began the first phase of its vaccination campaign in financial hub Dubai. Authorities targeted “priority groups” – including those aged 60 and older, people with chronic medical conditions, those with disabilities, and frontline workers.
Hungary and Slovakia
With more than 315,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, Hungary administered its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines to frontline workers in Budapest hospitals. The first worker to receive a shot was doctor Adrienne Kertesz.
In Slovakia, infectious disease specialist and member of the government’s Pandemic Commission Vladimir Krcmery was the first to receive the vaccine. He was followed by his colleagues.
France
Although criticized for having a sluggish start, the French vaccination campaign began with nursing home residents. 516 shots were administered in the first week.
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said the government was working to speed up the campaign.
“We have decided to accelerate the campaign by widening the target group to health staff without waiting to complete the vaccination campaign in retirement homes,” Veran said. – with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.