Still no set arrival date for much-delayed COVID-19 vaccines

The Philippines is still waiting for the arrival of its first official COVID-19 vaccine shipment, a week after the first vaccinations were supposed to have taken place.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on February 7 that the first vaccinations, those of frontline health workers, would take place on February 15.

On February 12, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. said that the vaccines' arrival would be pushed back a week due to the absence of an indemnification law in the country.

There are currently bills in Congress seeking an indemnity fund for Filipinos who may experience adverse effects from the vaccine. In the absence of the law, the government has submitted an indemnification agreement to Pfizer for approval.

On February 19, Galvez said he was now unsure that the vaccines would arrive in February.

The first batch of vaccines were supposed to be 117,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses, from the World Health Organization (WHO)-led COVAX facility.

WHO said that the delivery will happen two weeks after the Philippines and Pfizer-BioNTech sign an indemnification agreement.

According to Mav Gonzales’ report on “24 Oras Weekend,” the Philippine Food and Drug Administration has only issued an emergency use authorization to two COVID-19 vaccine brands so far: Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, Malacañang said the expected February 23 arrival of 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese firm Sinovac could be delayed due to the absence of an EUA.

An EUA, issued by the FDA, is needed to legally administer a vaccine in the Philippines.

“Hindi naman puwedeng hindi natin basahin at hindi natin analisahin. Lalo na kasi ‘yong Sinovac, hindi naman published ‘yong kanilang data. Hindi pa ito nailabas sa isang peer-reviewed journal ano ‘yong contents noong bakuna, kung mayroon ba itong halimbawa, nakaka-allergy,” FDA director general Eric Domingo said.

“We just want to do extra care and, you know, due diligence. Ayaw nating sa huli, kapag pinayagan mo na’t nandito na, at tsaka tayo magkakaroon ng duda,” he added.

Further, the FDA also said it cannot issue yet an EUA to Gamaleya, maker of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, as the Russian research institute still has to secure a good manufacturing practice from the FDA.

The FDA is also awaiting the EUA applications of Moderna and Novavax.

Next week, Janssen Pharmaceuticals is expected to give updates to the FDA regarding the phase 3 clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine. — BM, GMA News