Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has applied with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Philippine FDA Director General Eric Domingo said the evaluation of the application will take at least three to four weeks. This is the second pharmaceutical company to apply for an EUA in the Philippines after Pfizer-BioNTech.
The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca has already been granted emergency use approval by the United Kingdom and India.
The government and private sector have already entered into negotiations with AstraZeneca to ensure vaccine supplies for the Philippines.
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. disclosed in an episode of the Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday that the Philippines is already “in the advance stages of negotiations” with Novavax, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, J&J, Sinovac, and Gamaleya.
“We will be able to purchase at least 148 million doses from more or less 7 manufacturers. However, it will be dependent on the global supply… More than 80 percent of the global supply have been procured by rich countries,” he stated.
According to Galvez, the priority beneficiaries of the vaccines to be purchased by the country include healthcare workers, vulnerable indigent senior citizens, poor communities, and other essential workers. – Report from Mark Fetalco
