The international public health body World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Covovax, a vaccine developed by US biotechnology company Novavax and produced by the Serum Institute of India. The EUL procedure assesses the suitability of new health products during public health emergencies. The objective is to make medicines, vaccines, and diagnostics available as rapidly as possible to address the emergency while adhering to stringent criteria of safety, efficacy, and quality.
The Technical Advisory Group for Emergency Use Listing (TAG-EUL), convened by WHO and made up of experts from around the world, has determined that the vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs any risks, and that the vaccine can be used globally.
With Covovax granted an EUL by the WHO, this clears the way for the delivery of the vaccine to other countries including the Philippines. “We welcome the approval from the WHO and are excited to finally bring this high-quality vaccine to the Philippines,” said Mr. Vinay Panemanglor, Chairman, Board of Directors of Faberco Life Sciences, Inc. (Faberco), the local pharmaceutical company that has the rights to distribute the vaccine in the country.
The vaccine will carry the trademark Covovax in the Philippines. The overall efficacy rate is 90.4% and 92.6% against variants of interest and concern, one of the highest among all vaccines approved for use in the country.
“We are looking forward to fulfilling our commitments to bring Covovax to the Filipino people via the National and Local Government Units, and Private Entities,” said Mr. Panemanglor, “We are looking forward to helping the nation ease further into the next normal where Covid-19 is
