WHO approval of Sinovac COVID-19 jab seen as 'advantage' for Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — The World Health Organization’s approval of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech is an “advantage” for the Philippines, the Department of Health said Wednesday.
Sinovac’s two-dose jab CoronaVac accounts for the bulk of the country’s vaccine supply. Since February, the Philippines has received 5.5 million CoronaVac doses, of which one million were donated by the Chinese government.
WHO’s emergency use listing (EUL) gives countries assurance that the vaccine has met international standards, infectious disease specialist Anna Ong-Lim said.
“We need to view the EUL as something like a quality seal, which means it (vaccine) has passed the evaluation of WHO based on their independent review of the data submitted by the manufacturer,” Ong Lim, also a member of the DOH Technical Advisory Group, said during a town hall forum.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the WHO’s green light can pave the way for more countries to use the vaccine.
“A vaccine included in the WHO’s listing is recognized across countries and its recognition from these countries will be faster,” Vergeire said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“It’s going to be something of an advantage because the vaccines being used here are mostly Sinovac and it can be recognized by other countries as well,” she added.
Ong-Lim also said the WHO listing should address concerns over the vaccine.
“WHO verified that this product is made under accepted standards. The effectivity and safety that [the manufacturer] is claiming have been validated. [The vaccine's] numbers did not just come from nowhere,” she said.
CoronaVac is one of the vaccines being rolled out in the government’s inoculation drive along with the jabs made by AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Research Institute and Pfizer-BioNTech.
A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations suggested it was among the top vaccines preferred by Filipinos, along with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
The United Nations health agency approved CoronaVac for emergency use on Tuesday. It became the second Chinese vaccine to receive the green light after Sinopharm
The listing also opens the door for the jab to enter the COVAX global vaccine-sharing facility, which provides doses to poor countries. Currently, only AstraZeneca and some Pfizer shots are flowing through the scheme. — with report from Agence France-Presse
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
