COVID-19: 100,000 UAE-made Hayat-Vax vaccines arrive in Philippines

The Philippines has received 100,000 doses of the UAE-made Covid-19 vaccine ‘Hayat-Vax’. The life-saving vaccine donated by the UAE government arrived in Manila on Wednesday.

Hayat — which means ‘life’ in Arabic — is the first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine in the Gulf region to be manufactured by a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s G42 and Sinopharm.

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use of the Hayat-Vax, which is identical to the Sinopharm vaccine from China. The jab will be administered to people aged 18 and above, FDA chief Rolando Enrique Domingo said.

Wilben M. Mayor, assistant secretary and chief of staff of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, thanked the UAE government for the donation. “This will be very helpful…especially during this time of the pandemic and with the Delta variant that we have here in the Philippines,” Mayor said.

The Philippine News Agency (PNA) quoted Mayor as saying that the shipment would be a “huge” aid to the country’s vaccination programme amid a limited supply of jabs globally.

The vaccines will be distributed to areas experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases, including Metro Manila and other provinces, the PNA report added.

“These 100,000 doses is really a great number that would further expand our vaccination programme,” Mayor added.

The official said the government is also trying to procure more Sinopharm vaccines.

Khalid Alhajeri, acting charge d’affaires of the UAE Embassy in Manila, also attended the arrival ceremony.

The Philippines has so far seven coronavirus vaccine portfolios, including Sinovac’s CoronaVac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Sputnik V, and Johnson and Johnson.