The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to release to the Philippine government the final Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and specific protocols on the conduct of the WHO Solidarity Vaccine Trials (SVT) in the country “in two weeks’ time.”
Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara, who leads the Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection (TG-VES), said the SOPs and protocols will be given to the Philippine government by the third week of February.
“We will get in two weeks' time,” she told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.
"Kasi inexplain nila sa amin kasi biglang nagkaroon ng variants 'yung UK and South Africa, they also had to figure out how to understate the protocol,”she said.
(They explained to us, because we suddenly had the UK and South Africa , they also had to figure out how to understate the protocol.)
She noted that most of the clinical trials "are going to happen” in the National Capital Region (NCR), Davao Cebu, and Cavite and in CALABARZON.
In his weekly report last week, DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said while, awaiting the final SOPs and specific protocol, the Philippines’ WHO Solidary Vaccine Trial (SVT) team has already started the lecture training about the protection, safety and well-being of the participants as well as how adverse events should be recorded and reported during the vaccine clinical trials.
According to him, the lecture training is part of the preparatory activities while awaiting WHO’s protocols on clinical trials.
He also noted that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) has been signed between the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and DOST that outlines the partnership between the two agencies for the conduct of the WHO SVT.
Under Resolution No. 68 dated September 3, 2020 by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), such agreement was proposed.
Dela Peña cited that the letters signed by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and the Guidelines for the Local Government Units’ Assistance on the Implementation of the WHO SVT were already sent last January 13, 2021 to the mayors where the WHO SVT will be conducted.