The use of the Covid-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinovac Biotech for children aged six to 17 is now allowed in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

This is based on the recommendation of the country’s Health Technology Assessment Council, said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

“The pediatric population ages six to 17 years old shall be recommended to be vaccinated with the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines approved for us to the aforementioned age group as an alternative vaccine for mRNA vaccines,” the DOH stated in its Department Memorandum 2022-0455.

To note, the primary series vaccination refers to the first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

In the previous protocol, Sinovac vaccine can only be used for individuals aged 18 years old and above. Also, the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine was allowed to be used for kids aged five to 11 years old, while vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna were being used for children aged 12 to 17.

Bivalent vaccines

In a related development, Vergeire said that they are still negotiating with vaccine makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for the possible procurement of bivalent Covid-19 vaccines.

The bivalent Covid-19 vaccines specifically target the Omicron coronavirus variant as previously explained by the DOH.

“Nakikipag-usap tayo sa Moderna at atin na pong inaayos yung term sheets natin with them. Binigyan na rin po nila tayo ng indicative price (We are in talks with Moderna and we are in the process of arranging our term sheets with them. They have also given us an indicative price). On Friday, we have another meeting with them to further discuss these agreements,” said Vergeire.

“‘Yun pong sa Pfizer, atin pa pong inaayos because there are specific requirements on non disclosure bago tayo makapag umipisa ng pakikipag usap sa kanila. But we are in constant coordination with their team here in the Philippines and we have already signified our interest na tayo ay makikipag enter sa kanila ng negosasyon (With regards to Pfizer, we're still processing it because there are specific requirements on non-disclosure before we can have a meeting with them. But we are in constant coordination with their team here in the Philippines and we have already signified our interest that we will enter into a negotiation with them),” she added.