The Food and Drug Administration now sees two brands of vaccines against COVID-19 that could be injected into more minors before the end of the year 2021.
This is the opinion of FDA director-general Eric Domingo, Tuesday, about Pfizer and Sinovac. They are talking about comparisons for versions of the vaccine available to those below 12-years-old.
“I would think before the end of the year [we will have it]. I’m pretty sure Pfizer’s going to be ready, and Sinovac also told us that their data is being collated and would be submitted soon,” said Domingo in a Palace briefing.
“So ‘yun ‘yung dalawang possible vaccines natin for children below 12 coming soon.”
This November, it was only that the U.S. and Israeli governments approved the vaccination of children ages 5-11 with Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines.
It was only in June that the Department of Health (DOH) said it was open to using the Sinovac vaccine for children ages 3-17, as long as their emergency use authorization (EUA) was reviewed and revised.
Sinovac’s EU has been approved for 3-year-olds in China since June 2021.
“The 5-12-year-old vaccines, I think by Pfizer, we hope that they will be sending in their application for an EUA very soon,” said Domingo.
“Nagtanong na sila [Pfizer] and they already ask the list of requirements, and they told us that they are completing the requirements.”
“Meron lang kasi yatang difference kaonti sa formulation ng vaccine for children. It’s like a new EUA ano, kasi may bagong innovation sa product.”
FDA: COVID-19 vaccines for ages 5-11 possible before 2022
The FDA is also waiting for Sinovac to resubmit their data when it comes to children below 18-years-old: “They just have to complete some more data to our vaccine experts, and we hope to get that soon,” the FDA official said.
Currently, only Pfizer and Moderna have COVID-19 vaccines given to 12 to 17-year-olds in the Philippines under their revised EUAs.
On November 3, the pediatric vaccination of all children 12-17 began reserved only for those with comorbidities.
Just Monday, the Department of Health reiterated the importance of vaccination, especially since 94% of those who die here have not been fully vaccinated since the drug injection began in March.
According to the DOH’s last estimate on November 22, up to 2.82 million people in the Philippines have been infected with COVID-19. As many as 47,288 people have died from the virus.
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