Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech has sought the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the emergency use of its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, CoronaVac, on children aged three to 17 years old.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Sinovac is applying for FDA’s amendments on CoronaVac’s emergency use authorization (EUA) so that it can be used to cover those aged three to 17 using a children’s solution.
“Sinovac is also applying for three to 17 years old for another source of alternative supply,” he told President Duterte in a “Talk to the People” public address on Monday night, Jan. 17.
So far, only Pfizer vaccine (children’s solution) is allowed by the FDA for the vaccination of children aged five to 11.
The first batch of Pfizer for the said age bracket – composed of 780,000 doses – will arrive on January 31 while another 1.632 million doses will be delivered on February 7.
“Ito po ay bahagi ng 7.5 million na darating ngayong first quarter at another set po na 7.5 million for the second quarter. May in-order na rin po tayo na karagdagang 10 to 15 million para makumpleto ang second dosing sa five to 11 years old (This is part of the 7.5 million deliveries that will arrive in the first quarter and another 7.5 million for the second quarter. We also ordered an additional 10 to 15 million doses to complete the second dosing of the five to 11 years old ),” Galvez said.
“Other orders will be in tranches considering this is a different formulation intended for the age group 11 years and below,” he added.
The pilot implementation of the vaccination of children aged five to 11 will be held from February 1 to 7, covering around 15.56 million individuals.
Meanwhile, the planned vaccination of infants and toddlers aged zero to four years old is yet to be finalized by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.
“For zero to four years old, we will wait for the release of the emergency amendment in other countries and the advice of our experts,” Galvez said.