The government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine “mix and match” trial was launched in Muntinlupa City on Monday, Nov. 22.
According to the Muntinlupa City government, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), through the Philippine Society for Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (PSAAI), will be conducting the trial aimed at determining the safety and immunogenicity (ability of a substance to cause an immune response) of completing the vaccination series with different COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine platforms available in the Philippines.
Participating individuals should be at least 18 years old, have no history of confirmed COVID-19 infection prior to enrollment, have not received any COVID-19 vaccine, relatively healthy, and have a PhilHealth account. Clinical study participants undergo a COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test before the trial.
Last Nov. 16, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the COVID-19 vaccine mix and match trials.
According to the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) website, the mix and match trial is headed by Dr. Michelle De Vera of PSAAI.
The trial will focus on giving different vaccines using Sinovac Life Sciences’ CoronaVac as the first dose. The Sinovac vaccine was chosen because the country has a stable supply of it.
Vaccines that will be included in the mix and match with the CoronaVac vaccine are those that have been given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA. These are AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna.
The trial will be divided into three groups. The first group is the control group in which participants will be given CoronaVac as their first and second doses.
In the second group, participants will be given CoronaVac as first dose and each group consisting of 250 people will be given Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Moderna as second dose.
In the third group, participants will be given CoronaVac as first and second doses, and they will receive booster shots using Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V or Moderna. This will determine if a person who got CoronaVac as primary vaccine will have a good immune response after getting a booster shot from a different vaccine brand.
According to the PCHRD, 3,000 participants will be selected for the mix and match trial from study sites in the country including Muntinlupa.
Participants need to sign a written informed consent and follow the scheduled visits, laboratory tests, and other procedures.
During the 18 months of the project’s duration, the participants will be monitored for more or less one year, according to PCHRD.