MANILA: The Philippines' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the emergency use of AstraZeneca PLC's COVID-19 vaccine, the second to be approved in the Southeast Asian nation.

The known and potential benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks to date, FDA chief Rolando Enrique Domingo told a news conference. The Philippines' FDA has previously approved Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine.