ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Pfizer's EUA application is welcome news -- Roque

Pfizer's EUA application is welcome news -- Roque

Published Dec 27, 2020 05:01 pm

It seems the COVID-19 vaccine of Pfizer may reach Philippine shores earlier than other vaccines following reports that the American pharmaceutical company has applied for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their product in the Philippines -- the first among all COVID-19 vaccine makers in the world.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
(OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

In a radio interview, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that Pfizer's EUA application may actually be good news as the company would not have made such a move if they were not prepared to provide vaccines to the country.

"Well, importante po iyan, bagama’t ito ay aplikasyon pa lang, siya pa lang po iyong kauna-unahan at nag-iisang nag-apply ng para sa Emergency Use Authorization (This is important because even though this is just an application, Pfizer is the first company to apply for an EUA)," he told Super Radyo DZBB on Sunday.

"Siyempre po hindi naman gagawin ng Pfizer iyan kung hindi sila handa na magpasok na ng kanilang bakuna rito (Pfizer won't do that if they are not prepared to bring their vaccines here)," he added.

"Sana nga po na maging mabuting balita iyan na handa na silang magbigay ng bakuna para sa atin (I hope this is actually good news that they are prepared us with their vaccines)," he continued.

With Pfizer's move, Roque said that other pharmaceutical companies with COVID-19 vaccines like China's Sinovac and Sinopharm, American company Moderna, and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca may follow suit.

"Hindi naman po nila magagamit ang bakuna nila sa Pilipinas kung wala pong approval ng FDA natin (They can't use their vaccines in the Philippines without the approval of our Food and Drug Administration)," he said.

The FDA is yet to approve any type of COVID-19 vaccine to be used in the Philippines. On Saturday, President Duterte asked FDA Director-General Eric Domingo to not prolong the process if a vaccine had obtained approval in their country of origin.

According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., the Philippines can get a vaccine within the first quarter of 2021.

Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., and Filipino Ambassador to the US Romualdez revealed that it was Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who "dropped the ball" on the Philippines' chance to acquire 10 million doses of Pfizer's vaccine by January next year.

However, President Duterte said no one should believe that the United States is ready to provide the said vaccines to the Philippines. He, instead, warned the US government that he will abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) if they are not able to provide the Philippines with at least 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.