DOST: 13 hospitals involved in COVID-19 vaccine solidarity trials
MANILA, Philippines — Thirteen hospitals across the country will be involved in the World Health Organization’s solidarity trials for candidate vaccines against the coronavirus disease, the Department of Science and Technology said.
DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña said the government’s inter-agency task force (IATF) has accepted the agency’s recommendation for zoning on the solidarity trials for candidate vaccines against COVID-19.
The vaccine solidarity trial in the country is scheduled to begin next month and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2020. The vaccines will be tested in eight trial zones in the country, which will involve 13 health facilities.
The following are the identified hospitals in Metro Manila:
- Philippine General Hospital
- Manila Doctors Hospital
- San Lazaro Hospital
- Lung Center of the Philippines
- St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City
- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
- Makati Medical Center
- The Medical City
- St. Luke’s Medical Center-BGC
Hospitals that will facilitate the study in the provinces include Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City, De La Salle Health Sciences Institute in Cavite and Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
According to WHO’s draft landscape of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, there are currently 38 candidates vaccines in clinical evaluation.
According to IATF’s Resolution 68, the WHO solidarity vaccine trial will be prioritized in the assignment of trial zones. It also said that vaccine recipients under the solidarity trial will be recruited from barangays with highest COVID-19 cases.
De la Peña also said the country is in agreement with five vaccine developers that will enable clinical data sharing.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines reached 290,190 with 4,999 deaths as of Thursday. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
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