[ad_1]
MANILA, Dec 12 (Xinhua): Britain-based drug maker AstraZeneca has withdrawn its application to conduct clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine in the Philippines, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced.
“They (AstraZeneca) said they already have enough data,” Enrique Domingo, FDA director general, said in a text message to Xinhua, explaining the reason AstraZeneca cited for withdrawing the test request.
AstraZeneca applied last month to conduct clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine in the Philippines, and had already passed the ethics board when it decided to withdraw.
AstraZeneca can still supply the country with coronavirus vaccines without conducting trials in the Philippines, Domingo said.
Last month, the country’s private sector signed an agreement to purchase 2.6 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca to increase government procurement of vaccines.
Among vaccine developers requesting clinical trials in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals has already received a positive recommendation from both the vaccine expert panel and its Joint Research Ethics Board.
“Clover is currently in other processes to proceed with its application with the FDA,” DOH said Thursday.
DOH said the Philippine vaccine expert panel gave Chinese Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech “a positive recommendation,” and that Janssen Pharmaceutica of Belgium has already passed the ethics board.
Vaccine manufacturers need approval from both the ethics review board and the vaccine expert panel before they are allowed to conduct FDA-regulated clinical trials.
The Philippine government aims to vaccinate some 60 million Filipinos out of its population of nearly 110 million in three to five years to achieve herd immunity, a vaccination term in which a population protects itself from a virus after reaching a threshold. or a certain number of inoculated people.
Britain-based drug maker AstraZeneca has withdrawn its application to conduct clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine in the Philippines, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced. – AFP
Nearly 25 million Filipinos are on the initial priority list of the immunization program that the government hopes to launch by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
At the top of the list are front-line healthcare workers in public and private facilities such as hospitals and quarantine shelters. The other priority sectors include the elderly poor and uniformed personnel such as soldiers and police.
DOH on Saturday (December 12) also reported 1,301 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, bringing the total number in the country to 448,331.
The DOH said 111 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 409,433. The death toll rose to 8,730 after 35 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.
DOH said Metro Manila leads the regions with active and new coronavirus cases, followed by provinces south and north of the capital on the main island of Luzon.
The DOH said it had examined more than 5.79 million people so far. The Philippines has a population of approximately 110 million.
OCTA’s research team, made up of experts from universities, has observed an increase in infection in Metro Manila in the first part of this month.
From 0.90 on December 1, the team said that Metro Manila’s reproduction number reached 0.94 on December 5, then rose to 0.96 on December 10. The breeding number was 0.88 in November.
“We believe this will happen next week,” added Guido David, a professor at the University of the Philippines and a member of the team.
Experts previously warned about the possibility of an increase in cases during the Christmas season.
Despite repeated warnings, people continue to flock to malls to do their Christmas shopping, disregarding social distancing and wearing the mask inappropriately.
This week a government team led by Health Secretary Francisco Duque has been touring shopping centers to pierce people’s minds with the importance of social distancing and not letting their guard down during the holidays. – Xinhua
[ad_2]
