MANILA City Mayor Francisco Domagoso has ordered the filing of administrative charges against a nurse who was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for illegally selling coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.
The nurse, identified as Alexis Francisco de Guzman from the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC), was arrested along with two other individuals during an entrapment operation in Quezon City on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. They were allegedly selling Sinovac vaccines to Chinese citizens.
Domagoso directed hospital chief Dr. Ted Martin to file the charges.
He assured that the City’s vaccine supply is intact and that this is “strictly regulated” and “highly controlled” by the Manila Health Department.
Domagoso said they were still determining the nurse’s source of vaccines.
“Following an internal investigation by the local government, it was found that the vaccines allegedly sold by De Guzman were not sourced from the inventory of the Manila Health Department (MHD),” said Domagoso.
Martin, for his part, said De Guzman is not part of the hospital’s vaccination team.
“De Guzman has never been involved nor transacted with the hospital's pharmacy section regarding the transport, handling and administration of Covid-19 vaccines,” he said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the illegal selling of Covid-19 vaccines does not only hamper the rollout of the government’s vaccination program, but also puts the public in danger.
“The NTF (National Task Force) is taking this matter seriously. We will ensure that a thorough investigation on the matter is conducted, and those involved will be penalized under RA 11525 COVID- 19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021,” he said.
“We already identified the lot numbers of the vaccines and a combined follow-up operation is now being conducted by a composite team of the Food and Drug Administration, NBI, AFP intelligence unit, and Philippine National Police to apprehend the offenders,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)