DOST waiting for WHO protocol on vaccine trials

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is still waiting for the final protocol from the World Health Organization (WHO) to begin the Philippine Solidarity Vaccine Trials (SVT) that aim to look for candidate COVID-19 vaccines.

Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said the Philippine SVT Team has yet to receive from the WHO the final protocol, as well as the funding and the vaccines to be used in the study.

“There’s still no protocols (and) name of the vaccines (to be tested in the trials),” Dela Peña said, noting that he was not advised when the WHO contributions will arrive.

Last month, Dela Peña said the WHO advised there will be a delay as it was able to sign up a third vaccine for the local SVT. The DOST chief also said the WHO already signed to contribute $1.5 million in both funds and in equipment for the trials.

Rowena Cristina Guevara, S&T undersecretary for R&D and chair of the Task Group on Vaccine Evaluation and Selection, said that Philippines’ total counterpart funding or share in for the SVT in the country totaled P483 million.

In preparation for the SVT, the DOST partnered with the Department of the Interior and Local Government to better coordinate with local government units during the study’s national rollout.

VCO clinical trials

Meanwhile, the DOST-funded clinical trial on virgin coconut oil (VCO) as supplementary treatment for COVID-19 has enrolled 69 moderate to severe COVID-19 patient participants and will soon hit the 74-patient target.

The trial is being conducted by the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).

“The project is anticipated to finish and release results by October or earlier,” Guevara said. The DOST had earlier set a June target date to reach the desired number of participants.

The clinical trials on VCO had been given the go signal by the Food and Drug Administration in June last year but enrollment of participants started only last November.

The UP-PGH study is one of four R&D studies funded by the DOST to look into the claimed medicinal benefits of VCO, especially in curing COVID-19.

One study conducted by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute in Santa Rosa, Laguna was finished last December. It showed that meals mixed with VCO hastened recovery by at least five days. A follow-up study is being done in Valenzuela.

Another DOST-funded study led by professor Fabian Antonio Dayrit of the Ateneo de Manila University showed VCO was able to cure COVID-19 at low viral loads.