Three Covid-19 vaccine brands are seeking to expand the coverage of their emergency use licenses to cover Filipinos below the age of 18, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday.

In a “Talk to the People” address of President Rodrigo Duterte, FDA officer in charge Dr. Oscar Gutierrez said the following vaccines were being reviewed:

  • Covaxin – for ages two to 18
  • Sinovac – for ages three to 17, 12 to 17
  • Sinopharm – for ages three to 17

“So kung papasa po itong tatlo sa ating clinical evaluation at sa standard po ng FDA, magkakaroon po tayo ng limang bakuna sa immediate future po,” Gutierrez said.

So far, only the US-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being used to inoculate minors in the Philippines.

The country has administered nearly 120 million Covid-19 vaccine doses as of Jan. 17. More than 55 million individuals have completed their vaccinations, while 59,031,437 have yet to receive their second doses.

More than five million booster doses have been deployed to date.

According to Carlito Galvez Jr., Covid-19 vaccine doses for five- to 11-year-olds may be available before the end of January.

The primary-series vaccination of zero to four year olds is eyed for later this year. John Ezekiel J. Hirro