The Philippine government’s vaccine experts will soon be allowing 12- to-15 year-old children to receive the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, according to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration. (FDA)
FDA Director-General Eric Domingo stated that he had already received recommendations from several experts citing that the vaccine jab was effective for children in that age group.
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“Within a week, we will be issuing an amendment to the emergency use authorization of Pfizer and we will be able to use it on children who are between 12 to 15 years old,” he said.
Pfizer had applied last May 20 for the change to the EUA, after the United States FDA had approved Pfizer’s request to allow the vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds in early this month.
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The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first anti-COVID-19 jab to be granted an EUA in the Philippines.
To date, the country has received barely around 193,000 doses so far and is expecting another two million more doses to arrive in June from the COVAX Facility.
Meanwhile, the government is holding talks on signing a deal with Pfizer for the purchase of 40 million doses. (AW)
