With the emergence of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variants, the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) described Wednesday, March 17, as “crucial” the Philippines’ participation in the ongoing clinical trials for coronavirus vaccines.
DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime C. Montoya cited four major reasons why the vaccine clinical trails should be continued.
“With new COVID-19 variants being identified, tweaking of vaccine candidates or their dosing schedule may also be needed to improve their efficacy and clinical studies are needed to confirm this,” he said during the virtual town hall meeting organized by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) on the “COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment” held Wednesday.
So far, four coronavirus variants have been detected in the country. These are P.3, the first internationally recognized variant from the country; P.1 or the Brazilian variant; B. 1.1.7 or the United Kingdom variant; and B.1.351 or the South African variant.
“There are still a lot of unknowns about COVID-19 especially on whether this will be like flu in the long run who will need follow-up yearly vaccinations,” Montoya said.
Clinical vaccine trials were needed to provide efficacy and safety data for a vaccine that is directly attributed to the Filipino population, he said.
He also stressed that the Philippines has to participate in the ongoing clinical trials to “generate necessary long-term data on safety and efficacy of vaccines, which is also necessary for CPR (certificate of product registration) application even for vaccine candidates with an EUA (emergency use authorization).”
He clarified that clinical trails “are not vaccination programs.”
Three vaccine developers have been given the green light to conduct their Phase 3 clinical trials in the Philippines. These include Clover Pharmaceuticals, and Sinovac Biotech and Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals has started its Phase 3 vaccine clinical trials in the country.