FDA checking on alleged arrival of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in PH

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday it is checking on reports that Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna have allegedly arrived in the country, as it disclosed that the United States drugmaker may apply for an emergency use authorization (EUA) of its coronavirus inoculation shots next week.

FDA director-general Eric Domingo said they don’t have information yet on which port in the country the Moderna vaccines were supposedly delivered.

“We have no info on it. Our enforcement unit is still checking the reports,” he said in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

Asked about the possible application of Moderna for a EUA in the country, Domingo said: “Yes, I think they will apply next week.”

To date, only Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca have so far secured EUA in the Philippines, which is being required for available Covid-19 vaccines to be legally administered in the country.

The Philippines is set to receive 20 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, with Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez earlier saying that the vaccines from the company may be delivered in mid-2021.

READ: PH in final talks with Moderna for up to 20M vaccine doses

In November last year, Moderna announced that its experimental vaccine against Covid-19 was 94.5-percent effective based on early results from its clinical trials.

READ: Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine 94.5% effective

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