PH exempted from vaccine export ban – EU

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines, along with 91 low and middle-income countries, is exempted from the European Union’s export ban on Covid-19 vaccines, the trading bloc’s delegation in Manila said.

The EU Delegation to the Philippines said the export ban on Covid-19 vaccines would have “no impact” on the Philippines and other poor countries.

“The authorization mechanism for exports of COVID-19 vaccines include a wide range of exemptions from prior authorization, to ensure the EU continues to fully honor its commitments to delivering the vaccine to our direct neighborhood and to 92 low and middle-income countries, including the Philippines, covered by the COVAX facility,” the delegation said Tuesday.

The delegation’s statement followed President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusation that the EU is supposedly holding hostage Covid-19 vaccines developed by the British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

READ: Duterte: EU holding AstraZeneca vaccines hostage

But the delegation said the EU “remains fully committed to international solidarity and its international obligations.”

‘Not EU’s fault’

Commenting on the EU delegation’s assurance that the export ban does not cover the Philippines, Senator Panfilo Lacson expressed his anger at those “feeding the President false information.”

In a tweet Wednesday, he said these people are “doing [the President] and the country a disservice and should resign to save us all from international embarrassment.”

So, it wasn’t EU’s fault after all. Those feeding the President false information are doing him and the country a disservice and should resign to save us all from international embarrassment. https://t.co/H4kO8TJpMC via @ABSCBNNews

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) February 3, 2021

“As such, there is no room for false information, especially at this critical stage of the government’s vaccination efforts,” the senator said in a separate statement.

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