THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Indian-made Covovax coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine, FDA Director Eric Domingo said on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

Domingo said two doses of Covovax may be administered on adults 18 years old and above, with a three to four weeks interval.

Covovax was manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII).

“Bagong klaseng bakuna po ito, ito po ay tinatawag na protein subunit... isang parte po na pure part of the antigenic [na] parte po ng virus ang kanyang nire-replicate. Pagkatapos ito ang ine-inject para mag elicit ng immune response,” he said during the Laging Handa press briefing.

(It is a new brand of vaccine, it is called a protein subunit... the vaccine replicates a pure antigenic part of the virus. This will then be infected to elicit an immune response.)

He said based on studies, Covovax has an 89.7-percent efficacy rate and may cause “very mild” adverse effects following inoculation.

In January, the national government signed a deal with SII for the procurement of 30 million doses of the said vaccine.