RUSSIA VACCINE COULD GET EUA IN 2 WEEKS

THE Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Russia’s Gamaleya vaccine would likely be approved in one or two weeks, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Sunday.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in the “advanced stage” of clearing the Sputnik V vaccine, Galvez said during the ceremony for the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine held at QualiMed Hospital in Sta. Rosa Laguna.

He added that he himself was facilitating the dialogue between the FDA and Gamaleya for an EUA for Sputnik V.

Gamaleya applied for an EUA last January.

FDA Director Eric Domingo had asked the Russian Embassy to authorize Gamaleya’s local representatives to sign documents on behalf of the firm.

Domingo has pointed to the difficulty of shipping documents to be signed by the manufacturers as the reason why Gamaleya’s application took so long to process.

Galvez earlier said the government plans to purchase 10 million to 15 million Sputnik V doses. The vaccine was reported to have a 92-percent efficacy.

The FDA has already granted EUAs to the vaccines of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

Another vaccine developer, Moderna, will supply the Philippines with 13 million doses.

Moderna said deliveries would begin in the middle of this year, although the country has yet to approve the vaccine for use.

“We thank the government and the private sector for their collaboration to bring the Covid-19 vaccine Moderna to the Philippines,” Stéphane Bancel, Moderna chief executive officer, was quoted as saying.

Bancel also announced it expected to reach an agreement with the government and the private sector for additional 7 million doses in a separate deal.

“We remain committed to making our vaccine available on every continent to help end this global pandemic,” he said.

The vaccine has an efficacy rate of 92 percent, even with just one dose, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Some 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac arrived in the country last week, and 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca’s AZD1222 were shipped in on Thursday.

The vaccines are reserved for the country’s medical frontliners.