Local drug regulators have approved the use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for Filipinos aged 12 to 17.
Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Eric Domingo made the announcement on Friday.
“After a thorough evaluation by our vaccine rxperts and our regulatory experts po sa FDA, in-approve na po namin ngayong araw na ito ang paggamit under emergency use authorization ng Moderna vaccine for adolescents ages 12-17,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Moderna applied for the amendment of its emergency use license on Friday, Aug. 20.
Aside from Moderna, the local FDA has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 12 and above.
“Definitely with the Delta variant affecting a lot of children, nakita po ng ating mga experts that the benefit of using the vaccine outweighs the risk,” Domingo said.
The Philippines has received 4,296,060 Moderna doses so far. John Ezekiel J. Hirro