Few things are giving us good reasons to cheer up.

One is that coronavirus vaccines may soon
be commercially available in the Philippines after the
Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced
it had granted a certificate of product registration for
the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.
“The FDA is pleased to announce the approval of the application and grant of CPR for Toziameran + Famtozinameran (15 mcg/15 mcg)/ 0.3 mL
Dispersion for Injection with a brand name, Comirnaty
Original/ Omicron B.A. 4-5,” it said in a press statement.
“The FDA has granted the CPR with five
years validity after a comprehensive evaluation process, extensive clinical trials, and thorough assessment of all available scientific data and information
provided by the vaccine manufacturer and comprehensive evaluation process,” it added.
Pfizer submitted a CPR application under
monitored release for their vaccine doses to the FDA
in February.
Their application was evaluated by Taskforce Edward, which was tasked to streamline the
approval and evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines.
FDA Director General Dr. Samuel Zacate
encouraged pharmaceutical firms to apply for the issuance of CPR or market authorization for their vaccine shots.
The Department of Health previously said
bivalent vaccines provide protection against the original COVID-19 strain SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Are we off COVID-19?

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Earlier this month, the DOH allowed the use
of Pfizer bivalent jabs as a third booster dose pending
the arrival of COVID-19 bivalent vaccines in the country.
Last week, the national government officially
started giving the doses to healthcare personnel, saying they are among those who will be prioritized for the
inoculation as they would need additional protection
against the virus.
We believe the FDA when it urged the public
to “maintain confidence in the regulatory processes
and to rely on accurate information from trusted sources regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.”
“The FDA will continue to prioritize transparency and provide regular updates to keep the public
informed,” it said.
Another reason to cheer up is the statement
by Health Secretary Ted Herbosa Monday he would
recommend lifting the country’s COVID-19 state of
public health emergency.
In an ambush interview, Herbosa stressed
that COVID-19 no longer posed an emergency and
could be treated as any other disease that the Department of Health monitors, like influenza, cough, and
cold.
To date, COVID-19 which hit the country in
March 2020, has had 4,155,758 confirmed cases of
COVID-19 with 66,481 deaths.
In May, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 no longer represented a global
health emergency.