Moderna and Pfizer vaccines could soon be commercially available in the Philippines, according to Galvez.
On Saturday, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines could soon be commercially available in the Philippines.
According to Galvez, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines could soon be available for commercial use in the Philippines.
Galvez said that the manufacturers of the American COVID-19 vaccines have already applied for “full authorization” status from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Vaccines that were given “full authorization” status by the World Health Organization can be marketed directly to consumers and can be bought from private firms.
“Moderna and Pfizer are now applying for full authorization. They might be open commercially by September or October,” Galvez said.
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To date, available COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines were only authorized by the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use.
This means that the COVID-19 vaccines were given for free by the national government and were not allowed to be sold commercially to the public.
However, the application for “full authorization” status of Moderna and Pfizer came as the national government started the vaccination of more priority sectors in its COVID-19 vaccination program amidst the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
Last June 7, the inclusion of the economic frontliners (A4) in the vaccination program officially started along with frontline healthcare workers (A1), senior citizens (A2), and persons with co-morbidities (A3).
Around 35.5 million Filipinos fell under the A4 priority group, of which, 13 million Filipinos were located in the NCR Plus.
Galvez, meanwhile, had also said that the vaccination of indigent Filipinos, who fell under the A5 priority group with a total population of 8.5 million, may also start later this month if there were sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
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