Philippines Expects Vaccine Approval in Second Quarter 2021
Philippines Expects to Approve Covid Vaccine Second Quarter 2021
(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines’ purchase and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines can only be made starting the second quarter of 2021 as delays hit the review of possible candidates.
This is a “practical and realistic timeline” as vaccines will go through registration then clinical trials for a number of months, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual briefing, adding that the nation’s Food and Drug Administration will accelerate the approval process by two weeks.
President Rodrigo Duterte however said in a speech late Monday that a vaccine will be available by December, and that the nation will be “better off” by January.
“We’re surviving and we’re only waiting for the vaccine,” Duterte said. “Unless the vaccine is there available and effective, only then can we really say we’re moving.”
The government is waiting for Russia’s Sputnik V clinical trial data for review, while the trial for potential Covid treatment Avigan, previously set to start Aug. 17, is also pending approval.
The Philippines has seen a resurgence in new infections, topping 3,000 in the past two weeks. It has 290,190 cases as of Monday, the most in Southeast Asia.
Duterte has allowed 1,500 health workers with contracts as of August 31 to leave for jobs abroad, spokesman Harry Roque said at a separate briefing. In April, the Philippines banned doctors and nurses from leaving for overseas work to boost its health workforce.
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