MANILA - Emergency approval of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines may take up to a month, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday as the United Kingdom rolled out inoculation against the coronavirus.

• UK starts mass COVID vaccination program
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A COVID-19 vaccine may arrive in the country in "late first quarter of 2021," said FDA director-general Eric Domingo. Vaccines and other drugs usually go through a 6-month process for approval, he said.

"Dati wala namang tinatawag na EUA (emergency use authorization) kundi normal na registration, dati umaabot 'yun ng 6 na buwan... Siguro kung kumpleto ang kaniyang submission magagawa natin yan in 3 to 4 weeks," he told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(There was no emergency use authorization before, only normal registration which took 6 months...If the company's submission is complete, maybe we can get it done in 3 to 4 weeks.)

"Pag ganung dalawang bansa na, mas tiwala tayo na maganda ang isa-submit nila sa'tin at siguro konting review na lang ng ating mga eksperto.)

(If it's approved by 2 countries, we're more likely to expect they will submit good qualifications and that it will need little review by our experts.)

Domingo, meantime, warned the public against buying a COVID-19 vaccine or drug online.

The FDA has so far approved only one traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 symptoms such as cough and fever, he said.

• Lianhua Qingwen, the FDA-approved traditional Chinese med, only treats symptoms, not COVID

"Nakikiusap kami sa ating mga kababayan na 'pag nakakita kayo ng patalastas o nagbebenta online 'wag po kayo papatol dahil...hindi po yan dumaan sa FDA.

(We urge the public to not buy COVID-19 drugs if they see someone selling it online because it did not go through the FDA.)

"Wala pa pong approved na bakuna sa FDA at mapaanganib po ang gumamit ng kahit anong gamot na di natin nasisigurado. Sandali na lang po, hintayin na lang po natin dumaan sa tamang proseso."

(The FDA has yet to approve a vaccine and it's dangerous to take drugs that we're not sure of. Please wait for drugs to go through the right process.)

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