NAGHAHANDA ang Department of Science and Technology (DOST), bilang punong ahensiya ng Inter-Agency Task Force’s sub-technical working group sa paged-develop ng bakuna, para sa World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial para sa coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.

Sa isang taped DOST report na umere nitong Biyernes ng hapon, sinabi ni DOST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña naniniwala siyang malapit nang magsimula ang clinical trials.

Sisiguruhin, aniya ng DOST ang kaligtasan at kabisaan ng bakuna.

“We also want to be transparent to everyone,” dagdag pa ni de la Peña.

Night Owl

Kailangan mong bumoto

Iniulat kamakailan ni DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development executive director Jaime Montoya na may tatlong kumpanya na nagsumite ng requirements sa Food and Drug Administration (FDA), indikasyon ng interes na magsagawa ng clinical trials sa Pilipinas.

Kabilang dito ang Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia, Janssen, at Sinovac.

Naghahanda na rin, aniya, ang ilang hospital para sa WHO Solidarity Trial. Kabilang dito ang ilang hospital sa Metro Manila, Cebu, at Davao.

“We are also planning for a dry run, to test our readiness for the (COVID-19 vaccine) clinical trials. This will be in close coordination with the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), and the (Bureau of) Customs,” ani Montoya.

Kailangan din ang koordinasyon sa DILG lalo’t mangangailangan ang clinical trial ng kooperasyon ng komunidad. Habang ang koordinasyon naman sa Customs, ay kailangan para sa kailangan vaccines’ storage, paliwanag niya.

“There will be zoning or places assigned to specific vaccines to avoid overlapping. The local governments will assist in the conduct of trials, such as transporting the patients, and other support to implement the clinical trial in their barangays,” pagbabahagi pa ni Montoya.

Samantala, binanggit ni Montoya na kalimitang inaabot ng limang taon bago makabuo ng bakuna. Gayunman, umaasa ang lahat na nakapag-produce ng Covid-19 vaccine sa loob ng isa taon o mas mababa.

“Because of this, we are targeting a 50 percent efficacy rate. This means that if (a vaccine is found to be) 50 percent effective, it already passed (the test), and we will move on to the next vaccine to be tested. We would also see if there are side effects,” aniya.