MOSCOW – The Philippines is expecting to receive some 600,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac on February 23, Sputnik news agency reported.
The Philippine Star newspaper, citing presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, reported today that 100,000 doses will be given to the Philippine military. The spokesman added that the vaccine would not be immediately administered, as it has not yet been authorised for emergency use by the country’s Food and Drug Administrator (FDA).
“It (Sinovac) will be stored until such time that it is approved. If it is not issued EUA (emergency use authorisation), it will be sent back,” Roque said, as quoted by the newspaper.
The Philippines is expecting to receive an additional 25 million doses of the Chinese vaccine this year.
Earlier in January, the Philippines National Task Force said that the country was planning to acquire 148 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine with the aim to inoculate at least half of its over 100 million population in 2021.
The FDA approved the vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech last month, and it is currently studying applications for the Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines emergency use. – Bernama, February 11, 2021
