Philippines, WHO sign agreement for COVID-19 vaccine solidarity trial —DOST

The Philippines and the World Health Organization have signed a letter of agreement to formalize the conduct of the COVID-19 vaccine trials in the country, an official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said Tuesday.

At the Laging Handa public briefing, DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan inked the agreement.

“Nagbigay na ang WHO ng final clinical trial protocol, standard operating procedures, at 4 na investigational brochures ng bakuna na aaralin sa trial na ito,” Guevara said.

(The WHO already provided the final clinical trial protocol, standard operating procedures, and four investigational brochures of the vaccine that will be studied in this trial.)

However, Guevara said they cannot disclose the brands of the vaccines as they await the approval of the Food and Drug Administration after its regulatory review.

The solidarity vaccine trial team also seeks an ethics review from the single-joint research ethics board, she added.

According to the DOST official, the solidarity trial aims to discover the most effective COVID-19 vaccines for the Filipino population.

The DOST earlier said it is scouting for 15,000 participants to take part in the trial. — BM, GMA News