The 600,000 doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines are now ready for delivery, the Chinese firm’s general manager said on Wednesday.
“The products are already there, we are managing the procedures of making the delivery and we will expect that [the] Philippines will be one of the important countries where we’re going to supply the products,” Helen Yang said in an interview on ANC.
“I think it (the delivery) will be soon, we’re working hard to make it happen,” she added.
The vaccines were supposed to arrive on February 23 but it was delayed because the Chine firm has not obtained an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
But on Monday, FDA approved the EUA for Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine, according to FDA chief Dr. Eric Domingo.
Sinovac is the third drug maker granted with EUA after AstraZeneca of UK and Pfizer-BioNTech of US/Germany. The COVID-19 vaccines from western pharmaceutical companies have been found to have a 70% to 95% efficacy rate.
“After thorough and rigorous review by our regulatory and medical experts, the FDA issues EUA to Sinovac,” Domingo said during the Laging Handa briefing.
600,000 doses of Sinovac to be delivered soon – exec
The FDA chief said that Sinovac’s efficacy is from 65.3% to 91.2%. However, it only reached 50.4% among health workers with COVID-19 exposure.
“This should be administered by vaccination providers and to prevent COVID-19 in clinically healthy individuals aged 18 to 59 years old,” Domingo said.
“The use of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine on health care workers is not recommended as it has an efficacy rate of 50.4% in this group,” he added.
On Wednesday, Domingo defended why the Chinese vaccine was given EUA with a recommendation that it is not the best option for health workers.
The FDA chief their low efficacy rate on healthcare workers would not affect the public’s confidence in the vaccine.
“Hindi naman po. Kaya nga po ang ginagawa ng FDA chini-check po talaga natin kung kanino pupuwede ang bakuna.”
“For example kahit po ‘yung matataas ang nakita natin na efficacy rate like Pfizer, alam natin na hindi po siya puwede sa mga may allergies. Katulad po nitong Sinovac, puwede siya sa mga may allergies,” he added.