WHO to reveal vaccine brand for solidarity trial in two weeks’ time — doctor

The World Health Organization is set to reveal the vaccine brand that will be used in the Solidarity Trial of COVID-19 vaccines in the next two weeks, a doctor from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) said Wednesday.

At a congressional hearing, Dr. Jodor Lim said the team who will be conducting the solidarity trial is now in the process of developing its standard operating procedures for the study.

"At this point in time, we are developing the teams that will be doing the study under the site investigators," Lim said.

"We are developing our standard operating procedures and the WHO is about to release in about two week's time the identity of the vaccine that we will use for the trial and hopefully in another month's time, about two months from now, a second vaccine will probably be  included in the vaccine trial," he added.

The WHO Solidarity Trial will be conducted in Metro Manila.

But according to Lim, the trial could be expanded even outside the National Capital Region.

"We're not close to the possibility of expanding outside the NCR," Lim said.

The Department of Science and Technology has said it is scouting for 15,000 participants for the trial.

The main objective of this solidarity trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a two-dose regimen of SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines against RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic COVID-19

Lim said participation in the solidarity vaccine trials is one of the best strategies that allow the Philippines to avail newer COVID-19 vaccine candidates that are already in the later or more advanced stages of development. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News