Philippines' Food and Drug Administration has authorised for emergency use the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the first to be approved in the country, which has among the most coronavirus cases in Asia, Reuters reports. FDA head Rolando Enrique Domingo said the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has shown a 95 percent success rate, could be effective in preventing coronavirus with which nearly half a million people in the Philippines have been infected. "The benefit of using vaccine outweighs the known and potential risks," he told a briefing, adding "no specific safety concerns were identified." Philippines has secured 25 million doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac, with the first 50,000 to arrive in February. Carlito Galvez, who handles the vaccine procurement for the government, said it has now firmed-up supply deals with Novavax, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Russia's Gamaleya Institute.-Photo: Manila Times

Source: The Standard January 14, 2021 05:48 UTC