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Friday, March 29, 2024

Vaccine trials to cover 15,000 Metro Manila participants–UP doc

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A doctor from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) on Wednesday announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected reveal in the next two weeks the vaccine brand that will be used under the Solidarity Vaccine Trials (SVT) in the country.

In a hearing of the House Committee on Health chaired by Angelina Tan of Quezon, Dr. Jodor Lim of UP-PGH said the SVT in the Philippines is part of global commitment to address the Covid-19 pandemic.

“After several months of waiting for the vaccine, the WHO is ready to announce the candidate vaccine in two weeks’ time and we’re hoping that we can start the actual trial in about a month’s time,” Lim said.

“The WHO believes that there’s still not enough vaccines for everyone around the world, so we still have to have newer vaccines made available for other countries,” he added.

According to Lim, the SVT will be conducted in Metro Manila that would involve 15,000 participants.

“With the rollout of vaccines [in high priority groups], we probably get the participants in those lower priority groups,” he said.

“SVT is the only mechanism which unites countries around the world to collaborate and accelerate the efforts in vaccine development with primary goal of evaluating promptly, safety and efficacy of candidate vaccine,” he said.

Science Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said that the main objective of SVT is to evaluate the efficacy of a two-dose regimen of SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines against RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic Covid-19.

“The participation in the Solidarity Vaccine Trials is one of the best strategies that will allow the Philippines to avail of newer Covid-19 vaccine candidates which are already in the later or more advanced stages of vaccine development,” he said.

He added that ongoing study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of mixing different Covid-19 vaccines and vaccine platforms in Filipino adults will address supply shortages through the proposed interchanging or mixing and matching administration of available Covid-19 vaccines in the country, as well as offer flexibility in the administration of the second dose.

Attending House panel meeting were key officials from the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Health and other stakeholders.

According to Tan, her committee sought for a briefing to seek updates on SVT, specifically on their safety and efficacy; the study on the mix and match of Covid-19 vaccine brands and platforms; and the immunosurveillance study on the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in the real world.

She said the panel also seeks to communicate the current efforts of the government, assess key issues, identify gaps and challenges, and pave the way for a robust collaborative endeavor as the country face the present Covid-19 health crisis.

Limitation

Experts, however, reminded the public of the limitations of Covid-19 antibody, or serology, testing.

Dr. Regina Berba of the University of the Philippines, Manila-National Institutes of Health explained that “while antibody tests are important in identifying individuals who may have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and those who may have developed an adaptive immune response, antibody tests should not be used at this time to determine protection or immunity against Covid-19, especially after a person has received a Covid-19 vaccination.”

The United States Food and Drug Administration has previously warned that antibody tests are not one-size-fits-all and that misinterpreting antibody test results could lead people to take fewer precautions than necessary, or cause vaccine hesitancy on the part of the public.

Experts pointed out that the vaccines themselves can lead to positive antibody results on some tests, and on the other hand, a lack of antibodies detected does not mean that a vaccinated person did not have a protective immune response.

Rep. Tan, a medical doctor, reiterated the experts’ call against the antibody tests.

“I would like to call on the DOH and other concerned agencies to closely monitor and regulate health facilities that are offering serology testing among adult individuals who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to protect the integrity of the government’s vaccination program and promote vaccine confidence among the Filipinos” Tan said.

VCO Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, of DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, also presented an update on the study on virgin coconut oil (VCO) as dietary supplement among Covid-19 probable and suspect cases where 5 of the 29 patients who were served meals with VCO were shown to have manifested diminishing signs and symptoms as early as the second day.

On the other hand, she said, only one patient served with the same meals but without VCO showed similar improvement.

Based on a completed study, she added, participants in the intervention group showed a significant decline in the C-reactive protein  level, with the mean CRP level normalized on the 14th day intervention.

She said this concludes that as an adjunct therapy, meals mixed with VCO is effective in fostering recovery from Covid-19.

Read full article on BusinessMirror

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