The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted restrictions on Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock announced on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
The use of the vaccine was renewed following the recommendations of a panel of experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following their vote, according to Woodcock.
Head of the CDC Rochelle Walensky said vaccination with the drug could resume immediately.
FDA spokesman Peter Marks suggested that Johnson & Johnson’s first vaccinations could be given as early as Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer is planning a new version of its coronavirus vaccine that can be stored in a standard freezer and comes diluted and ready for use, its CEO told AFP on Friday.
The vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech is already a mainstay in Europe’s efforts to control the pandemic — but it is a challenge to ship and protect.
The current version must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit), limiting its distribution to specially equipped vaccination centres.
But Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla told AFP in an interview that a new version is in the pipeline and that he was optimistic the vaccine will also prove effective against new virus variants.
COVID-19 surges are placing a major strain on healthcare systems across the world, with no end in sight to a pandemic that has killed more than three million people.
With governments rushing to accelerate vaccine campaigns, good news emerged Friday when US regulators approved the re-start of Johnson & Johnson vaccinations halted over blood clotting concerns and the EU said it would have enough jabs by the end of July to inoculate 70 percent of adults.
On April 13, Johnson & Johnson announced it had postponed the use of its vaccine in European countries following reports about the possible connection of the drug with the formation of blood clots.
The decision was made after the recommendation of US regulators to suspend the use of the drug in the United States due to possible side effects that the vaccine can cause.
Meanwhile, doses of the Russia-developed Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine that are expected to arrive in the country will only be sent to local government units meeting storage and handling standards, the Department of Health said.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said these vaccines, developed by the Gamaleya Institute, should be stored in a dark place with temperatures not over -18 degrees Celsius— a requirement that other LGUs cannot meet.
The temperature standards for Sputnik V are lower than that of Sinovac and AstraZeneca, which can be placed in normal storage facilities as both require temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
The two brands are currently in use in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Vergeire said because of such storage requirements, Sputnik V cannot be distributed to all regions.
The DOH previously said it was expecting the arrival of Pfizer and Sputnik V vaccines by the end of the month.
Both vaccines already have emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration— a prerequisite to distribution and use in the country.
Last Thursday, some 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines arrived in the Philippines. The shots are expected to be rolled out to local government units over the weekend, according to Vergeire.
Government data shows that as of April 22, around 1.6 million Filipinos have been vaccinated against COVID-19, including 200,000 who have received both doses of the two-jab regimen.
The total inoculations is far from the target 70 million to achieve herd immunity.
In related developments, the leader of a non-profit group centered on vaccine information campaigns said the effects of mixing and matching various coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine brands for first and second dose shots “remains to be seen,” as some developers start to investigate this process in the face of a supply shortage.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, president of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, said that while it could be harmless, specific studies are needed before mixing vaccines.
Bravo said: “No company has done studies where they mix their vaccines with others. But now with the pandemic, there are others such as Chinese companies that have been thinking about the shortage in vaccines, and they do not have enough for the second dose, you can use a different brand and we can look if the efficacy remains the same.”
Shipments of the next batch of AstraZeneca vaccines via the COVAX facility were delayed earlier in the month, as the World Health Organization said there were supply shortages in Europe.
The facility recently said it was in talks to acquire other COVID-19 vaccines as supply remained short.
Reports have said AstraZeneca has been trialed with Russia’s Sputnik V, while British scientists have been testing Pfizer’s mRNA shot with the AstraZeneca jab in a British government-funded study.
But Bravo noted that experts might also have to note the compositions of vaccines before mixing and matching them on a patient, as it may change how effective the doses are to combat the virus.
For instance, Sinovac uses an inactive form of the COVID-19 virus for its vaccine, while other brands such as AstraZeneca use the spike protein of the virus, which generates COVID-19 antibodies.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. was said to be mulling the purchase of booster shots from Moderna. With AFP