DOH: No identified sites yet for Sinovac, Clover, Janssen vaccine trials

Clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac, Janssen and Clover have yet to be scheduled as the government is still identifying sites for them, a Department of Health (DOH) official said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the clarification three days after Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said that the three vaccine makers already have a target list of clinical trial sites which include areas in Laguna, Metro Manila, Iloilo, Cavite and Bacolod City.

Vergeire said that the DOST is still talking to the vaccine makers’ partner contract research organizations (CROs) in the Philippines to ensure that sites for their clinical trials will not duplicate the areas dedicated for the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

“The CROs have the responsibility to recruit and manage, together with the proponents, these clinical trials. Hindi pa nakakapagbigay ng list ang CROs dahil pinag-uusapan at pinag-aaralan pa [kung saan],” Vergeire said in an online forum.

“Nakapagbigay ang Sinovac pero ibinalik kasi kapareho siya ng sites ng WHO Solidarity Trial. The IATF has endorsed the WHO Solidarity Trial at ito ang susuportahan ng gobyerno, kaya this should take precedence over other trials. There cannot be a duplication,” she added.

IATF is the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, which is the policy-making body of the national government in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vergeire said that CROs of vaccine makers are already being advised which areas are reserved for WHO Solidarity Trial, which also has yet to be scheduled.

The DOH has repeatedly said that the start date of the WHO Solidarity Trial will be announced by WHO.

The Philippines has recorded 513,619 COVID-19 cases as of January 24, 2021. Of this number, 475,612 recovered while 10,242 died.

The number of active COVID-19 cases is at 27,765. —KBK, GMA News