The Department of Health (DOH) expressed hope that the first supply of Pfizer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine— for children aged five to 11— will arrive in the Philippines by the end of this month or first week of February.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the DOH and other government officials were in talks with the representatives from US Pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Vergeire said that Pfizer representatives first committed to deliver the vaccines by “first quarter” of this year.
“Nagkaroon kami ng pagpupulong with the Pfizer group nung isang araw kasama si Sec Charlie Galvez and Sec Vince Dizon kung saan nag request po ang ating country (We had a meeting with the Pfizer group the other day with Sec. Charlie Galvez and Sec. Vince Dizon where our country requested), through our vaccine cluster, if they can make their deliveries earlier,” said Vergeire on Friday, Jan. 7.
“They said they are going to study the matter. Mukhang positibo naman po ang kanilang reply. Ang pangako lang it will be in tranches (It looks like their reply is positive. The only promise is it will be in tranches),” she added.
“Hopefully, yung commitment nila that they will provide us by the end of January until first week of February---with the initial tranche for our vaccines,” she furthered.
Vergeire noted that there is a “global shortage” for this specific type of vaccine for the said age group.
“We have to understand, there is global shortage of this five to 11 years old na bakuna coming from this manufacturer kaya nagkakaroon ng allocation per country sila ngayon (of this vaccine for five to 11 year old coming from this manufacturer---so, they are having an allocation per country right now),” she said.
Previously, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that this Pfizer vaccine is different from the one being used for individuals 12-years-old and above.
He noted that this Pfizer vaccine for children aged five to 11 has different formulations and will be administered in smaller doses.
The FDA approved the vaccine’s emergency use for this age group last Dec. 23. Currently, the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program only covers individuals aged 12 years old and above.
READ: PH approves use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11