The US Department of Defense admitted to intentionally spreading discrediting information about the Chinese Sinovac vaccine’s effectiveness in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Reuters report citing a classified government document.
The disclosure first came to light when Harry Roque, the spokesperson for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, mentioned it in his podcast. Although Roque did not provide evidence, Reuters was able to review a letter from the Pentagon to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of National Defense.
In the letter, the US military department said: “It is true that the [Department of Defense] did message Philippines audiences questioning the safety and efficacy of Sinovac.” A source familiar with the letter’s contents confirmed its authenticity to Reuters.
The document further acknowledged that the Pentagon “made some missteps in our COVID-related messaging,” but assured the Philippines that the military “has vastly improved oversight and accountability of information operations” since 2022.
An earlier Reuters investigation has revealed that the Pentagon launched a secret psyop aimed to discredit Chinese vaccines and other COVID jabs in 2020-2021.
Pentagon spokesman Pete Nguyen acknowledged that the department generated “social media content about the safety and efficacy of Sinovac.” The efforts supposedly sought to counter China’s growing influence in the Philippines.
The revelation mirrors a smear campaign against Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, where Brazil, one of the countries hit the hardest by the pandemic, delayed Sputnik V’s authorisation and later banned its imports.
In 2021, the US Department of Health and Human Services similarly admitted that it used “diplomatic relations” in order to push Brazil to reject the authorisation of the Russian jab.
Source: Sputnik