FDA's Domingo: First batch of COVID vaccines definitely arriving in Feb.

Food and Drug Administration Director General Enrique Domingo said Saturday that the arrival of the first batch of vaccines against COVID-19 will definitely be delivered within February.

Citing information from the office of vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Domingo told Super Radyo dzBB's Dobol B sa News TV that the delay in vaccine delivery, which was supposed to be on February 15,  was due to some documents that need to be reviewed.

But he said, "Definitely this month. I would think so kasi gignagawa nila ang lahat para dumating ang vaccines ngayong Pebrero.

He was referring to the batch of doses from Pfizer and AstraZeneca through the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVAX Facility in the country.

Likewise, he reiterated the hierarchy of priority

"Ang unang batch, sinusunod ang priorities na magkakaroon ang health workers. Ang next batch would be the senior citizens -- people above 60 years old. Next would be people with a lot of preexisting conditions, that might expose them to COVID … tapos yung other frontliners …then the general population," Domingo said.

Earlier, Galvez said the government is still reviewing the agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech that will ensure compensation for Filipinos who will experience serious side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

On the other hand, Domingo said that so far, only Pfizer and AstraZenca have emergency use authorization (EUA), while Sinovac and Gamaleya (Sputnik 5) have pending applications that are under review.

Sinopharm, on the other hand, has not yet applied for EUA. —LBG, GMA News