THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for 100,000 doses of Hayat-Vax vaccines donated by the United Arab Emirates.
“The vaccine is identical to the Sinopharm vaccine from China that is included in the WHO (World Health Organization) EUL (emergency use listing),” said FDA Director General Eric Domingo.
Domingo said Hayat-Vax is also manufactured by Sinopharm, which is a Chinese government-owned firm.
“The packaging in the UAE bears the name Hayat-Vax,” Domingo said.
Already granted EUAs by the FDA are Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V, Janssen, Bharat Biotech, and Moderna.
The shipment donated by the UAE arrived at 1:55 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 3.
It will be deployed to areas experiencing COVID-19 surges.
The country early this year received 1,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines as donation from the Chinese government.
A shipment of 813,150 doses of vaccines from Pfizer Biotech was expected to arrive last night.
The country has so far received 38.6 million doses of vaccines, procured and donated, excluding the latest deliveries from Sinopharm and Pfizer.
Vice President Leni Robredo received her second AstraZeneca dose yesterday at the Pinyahan Elementary School in Diliman, Quezon City.
Joining her at the queue also for their second shots were members of her staff at the Office of the Vice President.
Robredo urged Filipinos to get vaccinated to shield themselves and their family from the coronavirus. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
