THE Philippine government has approved the emergency use authorization (EUA) application for Russia’s Sputnik Light vaccine against COVID-19, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. announced in a press briefing today, August 23.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo shared that the country granted the EUA last August 20 which is made available for individuals aged 18 and above.
With this, the Philippines is now included among Asian countries like Mongolia and Kazakhstan which first permitted the Russian-made vaccine for emergency use.
Here in the Philippines, vaccine brands granted with an EUA include China’s CoronaVac (Sinovac) and Sinopharm, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen by Johnson & Johnson, Sputnik V by Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia, Covaxin, AstraZeneca, and now Sputnik Light also made by Gamaleya, which becomes the ninth vaccine brand to get an approval for EUA in the country.
While Sputnik V gives two shots, Sputnik Light only provides a single jab like how Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen works. However, the latter still has an efficacy rate of 79.4 percent according to a report from Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Both Sputnik Light and Sputnik V are considered human adenoviral vector platform vaccines which need to be stored under 2ºC to 8ºC.
According to Domingo, the EUA of Sputnik Light will extend the country’s options in vaccines and help achieve more fully-inoculated individuals for the attainment of herd immunity.
The Philippines has reported that 17.26 million individuals who are fully vaccinated, still below the country’s goal to inoculate 70 million people by the end of 2021.
(PHOTO CREDIT: pna.gov.ph)