News Roundup 12 February 2021

News and Updates

Feb 12, 2021 • 3 min Read

With 2,022 new infections, COVID-19 cases in the Philippines hit 545,300 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Friday recorded 2,022 new coronavirus infections, bringing the national caseload to 545,300. Of the total number of cases, the department has marked 33,151 or 6.1% as active. Another 333 people were reported to have survived the virus, bringing recoveries to 500,654. But the death toll rose to 11,495 after the DOH recorded another 26 fatalities.

‘Special treatment’: Senator questions FDA approval of Sinopharm jabs for PSG | PHILSTAR.COM – There should be no fast lane to inoculation against COVID-19 for the Presidential Security Group, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Friday, pointing out that even frontline healthcare workers have not been vaccinated yet. Hontiveros said this in response to the compassionate use license for 10,000 doses of Sinopharm’s jabs granted to President Rodrigo Duterte’s security detail by the Food and Drug Administration. The approval came more than a month after the chief executive first revealed the unauthorized vaccination effort with smuggled Sinopharm vaccines. The senator added that there is “no point” in granting the PSG such a permit when the FDA has already approved Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccines for emergency use. “There should be no fast lane for PSG, especially when there is no special treatment for our health care workers who sacrificed the most in this pandemic,” she said in a mix of Filipino and English. “It is still dubious that PSG has a separate vaccination program, outside of what the NTF has laid out for the public,” Hontiveros also said in Filipino, adding that “questions still fill the minds of many.”

CHR vows to continue probe on recruitment of child warriors | INQUIRER.NET – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) vowed to continue its  investigation on the alleged recruitment of children as warriors in areas of armed conflict, saying such acts constitute a war crime. CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia made the remark on Friday during the celebration of the International Day against the Use of Child Fighters or Red Hand Day. De Guia said it is “appalling” that children are still being recruited as warriors in areas of armed conflict. “The trend is a cause for concern as children are continuously victimized for different reasons. Some are forced and abducted, while others are deceived or made to believe that joining an armed group is a chance for a better life,” De Guia said in a statement. “In the field, children in armed conflicts also fulfill different roles—on the frontlines, acting as spies, lookouts, messengers, couriers, or running errands. Due to the involvement of children in armed conflict, most of them end up with physical disabilities, while others die or are seriously injured in crossfires,” she added. De Guia said that employment of child fighters violates the International Humanitarian Law, which prohibits the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and hostilities. “In the Philippines, CHR has monitored and is continuously investigating cases of children in situations of armed conflict,” De Guia said.“We have noted cases allegedly perpetrated by the New People’s Army where children are being harmed, killed, or seriously injured in armed battles, among others. We strongly condemn these acts,” she added.

Any Moderna vaccine in the PH is likely to be ‘counterfeit’, FDA says | Manila Bulletin – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, Feb. 12, warned against fake Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as there is “no available” supply yet in the country. FDA Director General Eric Domingo said this in an online interview following rumors that a shipment of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine supposedly arrived in the country on Thursday, Feb. 11. Moderna, Domingo said, might apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) “hopefully by next week.”  Based on the recent meeting between FDA and pharmaceutical company, Domingo noted that there “no supply is available until June or July” – thus, any rumored doses available in the country is “likely to be counterfeit.” On the reported Moderna shipment, Domingo said that the agency’s Regulatory Enforcement Unit is currently looking into the matter.