San Juan City District Rep. Ronaldo Zamora even hid from his family that he has been injected with a vaccine against the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) more than twice.
Rep. Zamora previously admitted that he already received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, in December 2020.
Afterwards, the lawmaker received two more shots made by American company Pfizer last June.
San Juan City mayor Francis Zamora, the son of the lawmaker, only learned that his father has received four doses of COVID-19 vaccine when he spoke about it during a public event on Monday, July 12.
"As far as I know, and as far as San Juan knows, ang unang two doses niya ng Pfizer na nanggaling sa San Juan, iyon lang ang natanggap niya. Kaya nagulat rin ako," the mayor said on Wednesday, July 14, during DZRH's Dos Por Dos.
The local chief executive said that he would have consulted with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) if he learned earlier of the initial vaccination of his father.
"I would have asked them kung ano ba ang dapat gawin sa ganitong sitwasyon. Ngunit hindi namin iyon alam. In fact, nung siya ay nagkaroon ng schedule ng bakuna nung Hunyo, wala sa amin may alam," Mayor Zamora said.
Mayor Zamora also said that Rep. Zamora also refuses to divulge where he got the Sinopharm vaccine shots.
Based on the statements of the 76-yearw old legislator, his inoculation with the Sinopharm vaccine happened before the Philippine government began its COVID-19 vaccination rollout on March.
Mayor Zamora explained that Rep. Zamora decided to receive two more shots of COVID-19 vaccine upon the advice of his doctor, and after learning that his body failed to develop antibodies after his first inoculation.
"Itong pag-bakuna niya ng Pfizer, six months after, ay ayon sa kanyang doktor," mayor Zamora explained.
"Sapagkat, according to my father, around two months after siya nabakunahan with Sinopharm, siya ay nagsagawa ng isang antibody test count. Pinasukat niya ang kanyang antibodies at ang lumalabas na zero ang antibodies niya," he added.
Rep. Zamora previously stressed that he is immunocompromised after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass and a kidney transplant.
After Rep. Zamora revealed that he has received four doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Health (DOH) reiterated that the Philippine government has yet to recommend the use of COVID-19 booster shot or additional doses after the first two shots.
