(Eagle News) — The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration has approved the emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
FDA director-general Eric Domingo made the announcement in a Laging Handa press briefing on Thursday, Jan. 28.
“The interim data, taken in its entirety, showed an efficacy rate of 70 percent after the first dose,” Domingo said.
He said the rate increases after the second dose, depending on how long before that second dose is administered.
The recent issuance of the EUA brings to two the number of companies that have so far secured the EUA in the Philippines.
The first company to secure an EUA was Pfizer-BioNTech.
The EUA is needed for the vaccine to be administered legally in the country.
The FDA has said, however, that the EUA doesn’t authorize the company to sell the vaccines commercially in the country as it was not a certificate for product registration.
The government has said it was targeting COVID-19 vaccination of 50 to 60 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity.