HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed on Monday, March 14, 2022, that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of Sinovac anti-coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine for the pediatric population.Duque said Sinovac vaccines can now be administered to children as young as six years old.“(We will start) Sooner than later. We are just looking at the operational details to implement this (EUA) but it will not take long,” he said in a chance interview in Camp Crame.The National Government started its Covid-19 vaccination for adolescents aged 12 to 17 in November 2020.In February, the government launched the “Resbakuna Kids” or the Covid-19 vaccination for children aged five to 11.The FDA initially granted the EUA of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for the pediatric vaccination.Earlier, National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said over 8.6 million adolescents and around one million children received the primary series of Covid-19 vaccines.Based on a study in Chile, Sinovac vaccines have 74 percent efficacy against hospitalization and death due to Covid-19 infection, among children six to 17 years old.Sinovac’s Coronavac is being used for pediatric vaccination in other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and China. (SunStar Philippines)