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Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the Department of Health (DoH) are preparing for solidarity trials for the 2019 coronavirus disease vaccine (Covid-19 ) to make sure they will be safe and neat.
The WHO representative in the Philippines, Rabindra Abeyasinghe, said on Monday that the agency expects to begin trials by the end of October, provided that the DoST and its team of researchers have approved clinical trial protocols and regulatory and ethical clearances.
“Once they are ready, we believe that the selection of vaccines for the Solidaridad trials will be finalized and WHO will be in a position to send the candidate vaccines to the Philippines for the start of the trials,” said Abeyasinghe.
A test run of the trials would take place this week, led by the DoST and DoH, during which the WHO will assess whether the country is ready once the trials begin.
At least 42 potential vaccines are being considered for the trial, but the WHO representative said only eight or nine are close to meeting the requirements, with two or three vaccines considered “pioneering.”
Abeyasinghe said that at least 4,000 participants from nine cities in the National Capital Region and one city in Cebu province will participate in the trials. The goal is to have at least 60,000 patients to confirm the efficacy and safety of the vaccines in the first three months of the trial.
The chosen communities were in the top five to ten barangays with the highest number of Covid cases based on their attack rate per 1,000 inhabitants.
“The idea is that there should be a transmission of Covid-19 to measure the effectiveness of vaccines…. We believe that current levels of transmission will be sufficient to test vaccines. “Abeyasinghe added.
Apart from the 10 areas, 12 hospitals in Metro Manila, Cavite, Cebu City and Davao City have been selected as test sites for the solidarity test, which will be led by Dr. Jodor Lim from Philippine General Hospital as the test leader.
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