Hontiveros urges FDA to release Sinovac’s clinical trial info

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should first obtain from Sinovac the final data of the results of the Phase 3 trials it conducted in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey before approving and accepting the donated vaccines as “gifts.”

Sinovac, the senator pointed out, has not released the results of the clinical trials which contain important information regarding side effects and duration of effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Before accepting these free vaccines from China, and especially before granting it authorization, the FDA should publicize the data that these are authentic and had been studied by the agency very carefully without bias or ulterior motives,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

The lawmaker said the government should do away with “blind trust” even if the jabs are given for free by the Chinese government.

“This is not an opportunity to seek political favor or advantage. When it comes to the lives of Filipinos, we should do away with ‘free pass’ even if these vaccines would be given to us for free. Even if everyone is already clamoring for vaccines, we have to be strict as we can be,” she stressed.

“People’s lives are at stake, and if we let just any vaccine through, Filipinos are the ones who will suffer,” she pointed out.

Hontiveros said the government should be wary of gifts China is giving to the Philippines considering it is repeatedly claiming much of the country’s maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea.

“For the record, China continues to bully us in our own waters and maintains a telecom deal in our own military camps. We should be wary of gifts it gives us in the name of friendship if they are withholding important data regarding the vaccine,” she said.

“If China is really our friend, they will go through all the steps to make sure the vaccine is safe before giving it out for free,” added the senator.

Medical journals, she noted, have also not reviewed or published any of Sinovac’s CoronaVac’s Phase 3 data.

“If it is as safe as they claim it to be, what is there to hide? Why do they have to deny the results even to the experts?” she asked.