Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 25) — A clinical trial to find the best combination of COVID-19 vaccine brands for Filipinos will be launched in the country in the coming weeks, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire confirmed on Monday.
Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said around 3,000 individuals are expected to participate in the mix-and-match trial, which will likely start this month or early November.
The official told Teleradyo on Monday that the participants need to be unvaccinated to clearly see the effect of mixing different vaccine brands.
Guevarra said the trial will have different arms, with around 250 to 500 participants receiving one set of different combinations. The findings are expected by December or January.
“Ang aming intindi, siguro mga late December or early January alam na natin alin yung maganda mong i-mix and match para mataas talaga ang effectiveness,” she said in an interview.
[Translation: We understand that we may know which vaccines to mix and match for high effectiveness by late December or early January.]
Guevarra said a pilot test will be conducted in Muntinlupa and Davao City for the mix-and-match, but no vaccines will be administered yet.
