MANILA — The Philippines has approved Sinovac Biotech"s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the chief of the food and drugs agency Rolando Enrique Domingo told a briefing on Monday. The Chinese company"s vaccines are the third candidate to get Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) in the Southeast Asian nation of over 108 million. Last week, amid allegations of snail-paced negotiations between the Philippine government and vaccine manufacturers, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez had clarified that the supply agreement negotiations are ongoing and that the current limited global supply prevents vaccine manufacturers from entering supply agreements with the government, according to the department of Health (DOH). In an interview with ANC recently, Galvez emphasized that a supply agreement is a binding contract and that negotiating supply agreements is a complicated process which provides for specific details such as payment schemes and definite delivery dates, among others. He further noted due to the binding nature of supply agreements, and given the limited supply of vaccines globally, manufacturers have not been able to commit specific delivery dates, hence preventing them from entering into supply agreements with the national government. Moreover, Galvez reported that no indicative delivery dates have been provided by any of the manufacturers the country is in talks with either. Meanwhile, with the recent confirmation that the Philippines will receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX Facility, the Philippine government has completed the first set of requirements set by COVAX, which includes documents pertaining to the country’s readiness to receive vaccines, as well as the deployment plan. — Agencies