Palace: Commercial use of Pfizer vax possible after full approval in US

CAMPUS STOP The mobile vaccination center “Bakuna Bus” of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) makes a stop at the University of the Philippines College of Nursing in Manila on Tuesday. Around 300 vaccination slots were opened, with priority given to students, according to the PRC. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — It will be easier for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow the commercial use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine now that it has the full approval of the FDA’s US counterpart, Malacañang said on Tuesday.

The vaccine developed by US multinational Pfizer and German company BioNTech currently has emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines.

In the United States, the Pfizer vaccine was granted an EUA in December last year and full approval on Monday, which paves the way for its commercial availability.

This full approval of the vaccine is for its use on individuals 16 years old and above.

‘More stringent FDAs’

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said approval of the vaccine’s commercial use in the country would be expedited.

“We have a policy that the Philippine FDA would more swiftly approve for commercial use the vaccines and medicines that already have the approval of more stringent FDAs like the one from the United States,” he said in a press briefing.

It would not be long before the Pfizer vaccine would be sold in drugstores, he added.

Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is one of the brands being used in the country’s mass immunization drive.

Also approved for emergency use are the CoronaVac vaccine of Sinovac Biotech Ltd. as well as the Sinopharm, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines.

A total of 4.6 million Pfizer vaccines have been delivered to the country as of Aug. 21, of which 2.1 million were procured by the government and the rest donated through the COVAX global vaccine pool. INQ