AN APPLICATION has been filed to amend the emergency use authorization (EUA) issued for CoronaVac, the inactivated Covid-19 vaccine from Sinovac Life Sciences, to allow its administration to children from three to 17 years old.
If approved, the Sinovac vaccine would be the second vaccine, next to that of Pfizer, that may be administered to children in the Philippines once the vaccination program against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is expanded.
Dr. Eric Domingo, director general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reported to President Rodrigo Duterte that Sinovac filed its application for amendment Tuesday afternoon, July 6, 2021.
The FDA earlier amended the EUA issued to Pfizer to also allow the administration of its vaccine to adolescents 12 to 17 years old.
Domingo also said the FDA has issued an EUA to the Department of Health (DOH) to allow the use of AstraZeneca vaccines that will be donated by Japan.
An EUA was also issued last week for the single-dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines donated by the United States, he added.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier announced that Japan will send one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on July 8 while the US will deliver, through Covax, 3,024,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine within the first half of this month.
The Philippines has allowed the use of vaccines from the following: Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V, Janssen, Bharat Biotech and Moderna.
Except for Pfizer, all vaccines may be administered to individuals 18 years old and above.
Except for Janssen, which is given in a single dose, all vaccines are given in two doses with intervals ranging from 21 days for Pfizer to up to 12 weeks for AstraZeneca.
Sinovac, Bharat and Moderna vaccines are given 28 days apart while Sputnik V’s second dose may be given up to 42 days after the first dose. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)