Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) — The Philippines is nearing the finish line in terms of preparing for the upcoming solidarity vaccine trials of the World Health Organization, an official of the Department of Science and Technology said.
“Sa ngayon ay di pa nagsisimula ang WHO solidarity vaccine trial pero tayo po ay kumbaga nasa last mile na sa paghahanda,” DOST Philippine Council for Health Research and Development executive director Dr. Jaime Montoya told a televised government briefing Thursday.
[Translation: For now, the WHO solidarity vaccine trials haven’t started but you could say we are in the last mile of preparations.]
Montoya added that the government is now finalizing the equipment to be used, and has been coordinating with the WHO in the transport of the necessary equipment and the training of healthcare workers who will take part in the trials.
Recruitment of personnel for the trials is also ongoing, he added.
Montoya said the WHO solidarity trials – where at least two vaccine brands are simultaneously reviewed – will also help vaccine manufacturers to come up with long-term data, which can be used when applying for a certificate of product registration.
COVID-19 vaccine brands being used in the Philippines only have emergency use authorization. The manufacturers need the certificate so their vaccines can be sold commercially.
The Philippines is currently inoculating medical frontliners, elderlies, and people with comorbidities against the highly contagious disease. It aims to vaccinate up to 70 million people by year-end in hopes of achieving herd immunity.
