Palace backs Galvez, Dizon that PHL can reject Sinovac sans EUA

Malacañang on Saturday agreed with key coronavirus response officials that the Philippines may still turn back on 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.

During a Senate hearing on Friday, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez and testing czar Vince Dizon were grilled on why the government was bent on purchasing the Sinavoc vaccine when its efficacy lagged behind other brands'.

In the government’s defense, Dizon said if the vaccine-expert panel does not recommend the vaccine and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not grant it an Emergency Use Authority (EUA) then the government will not purchase and administer the vaccine. 

Galvez, likewise, chimed that “technically” the government had not yet purchased the Sinovac vaccine, and that the government had not shelled out any money for Sinovac's product.

The vaccine czar explained that under the government's negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, the non-disclosure agreement would come first, to be followed by the inking of a term sheet, with the supply agreement containing the terms of payment coming last.

Sought for comment, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said, “That’s right of course! No vaccine can be used without EUA.”

So far, the Philippine FDA has only granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine so far—a vaccine which has been found 95% effective in its study population and 92% effective among all races after Philippine FDA evaluation.

Before Pfizer-BioNTech's secured its Philippine EUA, it had secured EUAs from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Singapore, among others.

Meanwhile, Sinovac has a pending EUA application before the Philippine FDA, but the Chinese firm has yet to submit the results of its vaccine human trials to the Philippine FDA.

An EUA does not allow vaccine makers to sell their products commercially since that would only be possible if they secured a certificate of product registration (CPC) from the Philippine FDA. -MDM, GMA News