China's Sinovac has sought the Philippines' approval to allow the use of its COVID-19 jab on children, the Food and Drug Administration said early Wednesday.
The Beijing-based biotech firm is seeking to amend the emergency use authorization granted to its COVID-19 vaccine, Coronavac, so that it can be used on children aged 3 to 17, FDA director-general Eric Domingo told President Rodrigo Duterte in a midnight briefing.
"They already applied for an amendment of their EUA, to include children... Ito po inaaral natin siguro within the month to see ‘no if we will be able to allow the use of Sinovac in children," he said.
China has authorized the emergency use of Sinovac vaccine in children age three to 17 last month. Indonesia recently recommended the use of the Chinese jab too on children age 12 to 17.
In the Philippines, the FDA so far has only allowed Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to be used on children age 12 to 17.
As of Sunday, July 4, a total of 2,868,905 individuals have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while 8,839,124 have received their first dose.