Palace: Duterte to issue EO on emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved “in principle” the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines, Malacañang said Thursday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said an executive order will be issued by the President to allow the Food and Drug Administration to give emergency use authorization (EUA) for vaccines.

An EUA will reduce the processing time for the approval of the vaccines for local use from six months to 21 days, he added. The issuance of an EO on EUA was both proposed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Wednesday that their potential vaccine was found to be 95% effective based on the results of final-stage testing.

Their rival Moderna said on Monday that its vaccine candidate was 94.5% effective at preventing people from catching the virus.

Pfizer has already announced plans to seek emergency authorization from the US FDA.

Duterte has also approved recommendations for the Philippines to enter into advance supply agreements and provide early payments to COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, the Palace said. -MDM, GMA News