THE Pharmaceutical giant China Biotechnology Co. Ltd. said it is awaiting the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) emergency use authorization (EUA) to shift some 25 million doses of its Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines.

MKG Universal Drugs Trading Corp. President and CEO Atty. Mark Kristopher Tolentino bared China Biotech “can bring in as much as 25 million vaccine doses (of Sinopharm) which should be good for the entire populace.”

Earlier, China Biotech named MKG Universal as the country’s sole distributor of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Last January, Tolentino said their firm had already applied for the emergency use authorization (EUA) as early as January this year before FDA.

It will be recalled that the influx of vaccine brands such as Sinovac, Pfizer, Sputnik, and AstraZeneca have significantly helped the global campaign against the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID).

Philippine authorities have reported that an estimated 1.2-million Filipinos have been properly vaccinated as of mid-April 2021.

But due to the limited vaccines’ supply, the war to beat COVID-19 remains a big battle, resulting to the continued alarming rise of cases in the country.

With the availability of the Sinopharm vaccine, Tolentino expressed optimism
that it will be a big boost for the Philippines’ campaign to attain herd immunity from COVID-19.

Tolentino also explained that Sinopharm is China’s ‘best vaccine’ against COVID-19 since it “is strongly recommended for both the young (three years old) and the old (up to 100 years old), as well as for those with underlying diseases and comorbidities.”

Based on the clinical trials held last June 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Tolentino said 1,500 among those tested were Filipinos, who all responded well to the treatment with no adverse side effects.

MKG Universal’s business partner and exclusive sales, marketing and advertising arm, ALV Consultus hopes to implement the immediate dissemination of the vaccine to hospitals and other high-risk COVID-stricken populations with the assistance of local government units (LGUs).

ALV Consultus chief Arnold Vegafria explained once Sinopharm secures greenlight from FDA, the Chinese firm “can have the Sinopharm vaccine here in just one week, to be delivered by plane.”

He added that China Biotech “is also willing to donate a significant volume of Sinopharm vaccines, on top of our outright purchases, just to make sure that we have adequate contingency supplies to supplement our available stock.”(RPP)