MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) will apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) of Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine, a health official said Monday.
In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency sees the possibility of a government to government negotiation for the Sinopharm vaccine.
“This is something that we do so that we can facilitate the process of receiving vaccines but of course everything undergoes the strict regulatory process,” she added.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) gave an emergency use listing to Sinopharm, making it the sixth vaccine which have received the organization's validation for safety, efficacy and quality.
Following the approval of WHO, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III instructed the DOH to file an EUA application for the vaccine.
“Ito po ay inaayos na natin ngayon, kailangan lang natin makuha ‘yung mga dokumento (We're processing this and we need to secure the documents) at the dossier of Sinopharm,” Vergeire said.
Earlier, Vergeire noted that WHO's approval is "a big help and an additional credibility for the Sinopharm vaccine" as it has already been reviewed by their experts.
However, the Sinopharm vaccine would still need to undergo the regular process set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the EUA application for all Covid-19 vaccines.
To date, the FDA has granted EUA to six Covid-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Bharat Biotech, Gamaleya Institute, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinovac. (PNA)
