In September and October, members of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s security detail received vaccines against Covid-19. But no shots had been fired in the country, then or now.
Lawmakers are trying to figure out how vaccines were introduced.
The scandal came after Duterte last month said several members of a military unit in charge of his personal protection had been vaccinated without his knowledge. Brig. General Jesus Durante III, commander of the unit, later said “a handful” of guards were shot in September and October to protect the president from exposure to the virus.
Mr Durant said the president found out only after giving the two necessary shots and that the unit was acting without the help or approval of any other authority.
“We got vaccinated,” he said in a television interview. “It’s that easy.”