INFECTIOUS diseases expert Dr. Edsel Salvana said vaccines should be off-limits to partisan politics.
Salvana issued the statement following the release of a Reuter’s report saying the United States Defense Department admitted to spreading propaganda disparaging China’s Sinovac, which was among the first vaccines used in the Philippines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It said the admission was contained in a June 25 document sent from the US Defense Department to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of National Defense.
Dr. Edsel Salvana PHOTO BY: RENE H. DILAN
A previous report said the Pentagon launched a secret psychological operation to discredit Chinese vaccines and other Covid aid in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic.
A document cited by Reuters said the US Defense Department admitted that operatives “ceased Covid-related messaging related to Covid-19 origins and Covid-19 vaccines in August 2021.”
Salvana said the US propaganda had resulted in decreased uptake of Chinese vaccines, which, for months, were the only available vaccines for Covid-19 locally.
“During the pandemic, those of us who advised the Philippine government on the Covid-19 response were increasingly alarmed by the propaganda that was being used to attack the Chinese vaccines,” he added.
He said politicians then were suddenly talking like vaccine experts deliberating on the “low efficacy” of Chinese vaccines such as Sinovac and Sinopharm.
“Despite preliminary data that Sinovac prevented 100 percent of cases of hospitalization and death from Covid-19, many chose to focus on the 53 percent efficacy in preventing mild symptoms of Covid-19,” Salvana said.
He added that intentional tampering with vaccine confidence during a public health emergency is “unconscionable and likely cost thousands of Filipino lives.”
“While it won’t bring back the dead or repair the damage to our public health programs, an admission of guilt is the first step toward accountability,” Salvana said.
He said he hopes the US will keep its promise to “vastly improve oversight and accountability of information operations.”
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