Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines' Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) has allowed the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines made byJohnson & Johnson of the US and India's Bharat Biotech, it said on April 20.

Both vaccines can be administered to people aged 18 andabove in the Philippines, the agency chief, Rolando Enrique Domingo, said in amobile text message.

So far, the Southeast Asian country has granted emergencyuse approval for six coronavirus vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson is conducting late-stage clinicaltrials for its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines.

Data from worldometers.info, the Philippines hasconfirmed more than 945,000 COVID-19 cases and 16,000 coronavirus-relateddeaths.

Meanwhile, the Brunei government has announced that theadministration of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can resume in the country aftertwo weeks of reviewing adverse side effects.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, since thetemporary pause on the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on April 6, ithad reviewed reports from other countries of very rare cases of blood clotswith low platelets following vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

In Brunei, among the 2,323 individuals who have receivedtheir first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, no events of this nature have beenidentified, the health ministry said.

The health ministry said that based on available data,taking into account the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, especially tothose at risk such as the elderly, and given that the reported incidence ofblood clots with low platelets is very rare, the COVID-19 Vaccine TechnicalCommittee believes that the administration of this vaccine can resume in Bruneiwith conditions.

Brunei reported no new coronavirus cases on April 19,with the national tally unchanged at 221.

Indonesia has extended the implementation of restrictionson micro-based community activities (PPKM) from April 20 to May 3.

The PPKM extends on five provinces, namely West Sumatra,Jambi, Bangka Belitung Islands, Lampung, and West Kalimantan, said CoordinatingMinister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto on April 19.

The PPKM scheme was first applied in Indonesia on January11 this year and has been extended several times.

Indonesia on April 18 received another six million dosesof Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine bulk from China, which is part of the supply of140 million doses to be delivered this year./.