Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña said Tuesday that the Philippines is hoping to begin World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial on potential COVID-19 vaccines sooner.
“Iyong WHO Solidarity Trial, dapat ibibigay nila iyong list noong vaccines noong October 26. November 10 na, wala pa rin. Iyong clinical trials, uunahin nila sa Americas tapos Disyembre sa ibang lugar, pero umaasa kami na iyong pagitan, hindi naman masyado malaki ang agwat nung sa Americas saka sa atin,” Dela Peña said at the day’s Laging Handa public briefing.
The DOST chief said that the WHO Solidarity Trial would include vaccines already in Phase 3 of clinical trials or those already being tested on humans.
Dela Peña added WHO is yet to disclose other protocols for the WHO Solidarity Trial in the Philippines, including the age group of participants, the number of doses needed, and the temperature needed to store the potential COVID-19 vaccines.
“Basta tayo, nakahanda ang ating team led by UP-PGH and the 11 other hospitals for the WHO Solidarity Trial,” Dela Pena said.
On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech said that a COVID-19 vaccine they are jointly developing showed 90% effectiveness against the virus following Phase 3 of its clinical trial.
DOST chief hopes WHO solidarity trial in PH will start sooner
The government considers borrowing up to $9 billion (P433.3 billion) from the World Bank to fund the country’s purchase of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
Carlito Galvez Jr., COVID-19 national task force chief, said on Monday that the Philippines would have to enter into “multilateral engagements with our credit partners,” such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
According to the vaccine czar, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III was already working on how much loan the government could get from the World Bank to advance the COVID-19 vaccine.
“A lot of funds the government has set aside P10 billion and may get an additional P8 billion for vaccines, Galvez said. This is apart from the P25-billion standby fund for COVID-19 response under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act,” he said.
“Plus, more or less the $5 to $9 billion that can be credited to our account, we already have allocated a lot of funds. This is why the President is very much confident that we already have the money, and he will still get more for the vaccine,” Galvez said.