Janssen starts COVID-19 vaccine trial in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines — Belgian drugmaker Janssen Pharmaceutica has begun the clinical trial for its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology said Friday.
“Janssen has already started the clinical trial proper, which covers patient screening, recruitment and vaccination,” DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said in a briefing.
Guevara did not disclose the specifics of the trial, such as the date when the study commenced and the barangays where the trials are held because only the vaccine developer can do this. But the DOST official said the sites of the Janssen trial are in Metro Manila.
The country’s Food and Drug Administration approved the application of Janssen to local conduct clinical trials in December last year.
Clinical trials showed that a single dose of the Janssen vaccine had an efficacy rate of up to 72%. It was developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgium-based division of Johnson & Johnson.
The vaccine leverages the company’s AdVac platform, which was also used to develop and manufacture Ebola vaccine regimen and construct its Zika, RSV and HIV investigational vaccine candidates.
The Janssen COVID-19 shot can be refrigerated for up to three months at 2 to 8°C, which is the standard temperature that is within the existing cold chain system in the country.
Meanwhile, Chinese firms Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Sinovac are still preparing the sites for their studies.
The Philippine FDA so far approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use.
The government's vaccination program has yet to commence, despite promises from officials that the inoculation will start in February. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said indemnification requirements caused the delay of the arrival of COVID-19 shots from the COVAX facility.
The government has been also criticized for its slow pace in securing highly coveted vaccine shots. It aims to vaccinate at least 50 million Filipinos this year alone.
To date, the Philippines has over 555,000 cases, with 11,673 deaths.
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
