Vax experts await data to extend Sputnik V jabs interval: FDA

MANILA – The country’s vaccine experts are still waiting for additional data from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute on its request to amend Sputnik V’s emergency use authorization (EUA) to extend the interval between its two doses, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said Friday.

“So, kahapon po, nakausap ko yung vaccine experts natin, sabi nila wala naman kasing problem kapag nade-delay ang second dose (yesterday, I’ve spoken with our vaccine experts, they said there’s no problem delaying the second dose),” Domingo said in a Laging Handa briefing.

However, he added that the vaccine experts are asking for data that would “fix the maximum period for administering the second dose”.

On Monday, Domingo reported the Russian vaccine manufacturer seeks to extend the interval between the two doses of its jab from 21 days to 90 days.

As for the plan to register Sputnik V as a single dose shot, Domingo said Gamaleya Institute has yet to submit an application and scientific data for it.

“Mukhang tinatapos muna yung clinical trials (It seems that they’re still completing the clinical trials),” he said.

The FDA has granted Spuntik V an EUA last March 19.

To date, the FDA has granted EUA to eight Covid-19 vaccine brands – Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford–AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sputnik V, Janssen, Covaxin, Moderna, and Sinopharm.