COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Gamaleya may arrive in the Philippines in February 2021, according to Malacañang
Malacañang on Thursday said that COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Gamaleya Institute may arrive in the Philippines in February 2021.
This, as authorities raced to book supplies of the vaccine to start inoculations as the coronavirus pandemic had persisted over a year since it started in China.
According to Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, he wasn’t at liberty to disclose how many vaccine doses from Pfizer would arrive next month.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved Pfizer’s application for emergency use approval, which shortened to 21 days from the usual 6-month review before local use.
Quoting vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Roque said in an online briefing that the Philippines would also receive some vaccine doses from Pfizer as early as February 2021 and he knew that the country won’t get much.
“Patunay po iyan na di tayo pumapabor kahit anong brand. Kung alin ang makakarating sa Pilipinas sa lalong madaling panahon, iyan po ang kukuhanin natin,” Roque told reporters.
According to FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique “Eric” Domingo, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – which had shown a 95% success rate – could be effective in preventing COVID-19.
Roque also said that it wasn’t impossible for the Philippine government to import the COVID-19 vaccine from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
READ ALSO: FDA OKs Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use In PH
Domingo also said that China’s Sinovac Biotech submitted its emergency use authorization (EUA) application on Wednesday.
That followed the release of late-stage clinical trial data in Brazil showing an efficacy rate at just 50.4%.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Philippines had secured 25 million vaccine doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac, with the first 50,000 to arrive in February 2021.
The Philippines had trailed regional peers in securing COVID-19 vaccines, with which it hoped this year to vaccinate 70 million people or two-thirds of the country’s population.
Galvez, who handled the vaccine procurement for the Philippine government, said that it had now firmed-up supply deals with AstraZeneca, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
Gamaleya Institute and AstraZeneca had pending emergency use applications (EUA) with the Food and Drug Administration.
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