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WHO COVID-19 vaccine trial is expected to begin in December
Gaea Katreena Cabico (Philstar.com) – October 26, 2020 – 12:42 pm
MANILA, Philippines – The World Health Organization-led clinical trial of candidate vaccines against coronavirus disease will begin in December, the Health Department said Monday.
The clinical trial of the vaccine was initially scheduled to begin in the country in late October.
“WHO has announced that the trials will begin in December 2020. By November, they will start at one site and then different clinical trials in other countries, including the Philippines, will follow in December 2020,” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire , in an instructions.
More details including test sites will be announced within the week, he added. Government officials previously said that areas with a high level of COVID-19 transmission would be identified as testing sites.
The beneficiaries of the vaccine in the solidarity trial will be people between 18 and 60 years old. Pregnant women and people with comorbidities are excluded from the trial.
The country has allocated 89 million pesetas to the WHO-led vaccine trial.
According to the latest draft of the WHO COVID-19 vaccine outlook, there are 44 candidate vaccines under clinical evaluation. Of that number, 10 are currently in phase 3 clinical trials.
READ: Duterte says that a COVID-19 vaccine could be available in September. Will it be safe and effective?
Deals
Vergeire also said that interferon was removed from the WHO trial of COVID-19 treatments after the drug was found to “not reduce mortality among COVID-19 patients.”
Meanwhile, remdesivir use will continue because the United Nations health agency wants to collect more data to support initial findings about the antiviral drug, he added.
The Solidarity Trial published interim results on October 15 and found that remdesivir along with hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir / ritonavir, and interferon had “little or no effect” on the overall mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to remdesivir as a treatment for hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
The Philippines has so far recorded 370,028 COVID-19 cases, including 6,977 deaths.
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