Disease expert tells vaccine makers to get product registration for COVID-19 jabs

FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (greenish brown) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (pink), also known as novel coronavirus, isolated from a patient sample. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/Handout via REUTERS.

MANILA, Philippines – Vaccine manufacturers should start applying for a certificate of product registration (CPR) in the Philippines to make COVID-19 jabs more accessible to the general public, infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvaña said Tuesday.

Salvaña, a member of the Technical Advisory Group of the Department of Health (DOH), said the CPR would allow COVID-19 vaccines to become available to the general public for purchase and administration by private doctors in their respective clinics.

A CPR is a certificate issued by

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues the CPR, which authorizes pharmaceutical products’ export, import, distribution, sale, or market. This would mean the public could buy COVId-19 vaccines without government assistance.

“Unang-una ang hinihintay talaga natin sa mga drug company is yung tinatawag na pag-apply nila para sa certificate of product registration. Nabigyan na ng CPR sa Estados Unidos ang maraming vaccines kasama dyan ang Pfizer at ang Moderna,” he said in a public briefing.

(First of all, we are really waiting for drug companies to apply for a certificate of product registration. Second, CPR in the United States has already been given for many vaccines, including Pfizer and Moderna.)

“Kaya na [ito] i-market nung mga kumpanya na ‘yan sa general public, hindi na kailangan dumaan sa gobyerno,” he added.

(So companies can already market it [COVID-19 vaccines] to the general public, so the government does not need to go through it.)

If the vaccine manufacturers could secure a CPR for the COVID-19 jabs in the United States, Salvaña said, “there really is no reason” that the same will not be granted in the Philippines, considering that vetting processes and evaluation in the US are thorough.

Salvaña explained that with an approved CPR, private doctors could already offer and administer COVID-19 vaccines in their clinics even without the emergency use of authority (EUA).

Currently, all COVID-19 vaccines in the country only have EUAs issued by the FDA.

Salvaña also said marketing COVID-19 vaccines to the public would motivate and put them at ease, knowing that the doctors they trust will administer the vaccines.

“Hindi lang tayo nagdedepende sa gobyerno, hindi lang tayo nagdedepend sa mga LGUs (local government units), kundi meron na rin share sa burden yung private sector,” he said.

(We are not only depending on the government. We are not only depending on the LGUs, but the private sector now has a share in the burden.)

Earlier, former presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion recommended that vaccine manufacturers apply for a CPR, noting that the public should also be responsible for getting COVID-19 vaccines. – Nicole Faye Agcaoili, INQUIRER.net intern

KGA