It is reported that members of the Presidential Security Group, headed by Commander Brig. Gen. Jesus Durante III, took the initiative to have themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect the life of the President.
While existing laws provide that any new drug should have previous authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) based on an application containing full reports of investigations to show whether it is safe, efficacious and of good quality for use based on clinical studies, a reading of the same shows that prohibited actions relative to new drugs presupposes that they were undertaken pursuant to commercial transactions.
Necessarily, the end-users of an unregistered vaccine, in this case PSG members, can not be held liable for manufacturing, importing, exporting, selling, offering for sale, distributing, or transferring any new drug, including vaccines, without the proper authorization from the FDA.
We note that the PSG members were vaccinated without the use of public funds. Hence, this issue is not a matter of who should have received the vaccine first as the PSG’s undertaking was not government sponsored nor sanctioned — their members acting on their own initiative.
Moreover, the PSG, being soldiers, are deemed to be front liners and included in the priority list to be subjected to anti-Covid 19 vaccine.
Furthermor, they put their lives on the line to protect the President from being infected with the virus.
Contrary, therefore, to the insinuation of Senator Frank Drilon and other critics, the rule of law was observed. The PSG’s action, aside from being legally valid, is consistent with — and pursuant to — its duty of securing the life of the President at all cost. .
We note that the efficacy of the vaccine is not 100% and is without FDA approval, members of the PSG, being frontliners, took the risk of endangering themselves just so they can accomplish their duty of protecting the President from COVID-19 infection.
Consciously endangering one’s own life, is not a crime. Instead of being criticised, these sentinels of the President should be commended for putting their lives on the line to protect PRRD.
The recent action of the public has not caused any damage nor injury to anyone, including the public.
The priority list for those to be inoculated under the government’s vaccination program is unchanged
As to those individuals who use their own resources in administering unto themselves unsanctioned vaccines, believing that the same is in accordance with their call of duty, they do so at their own risk.
