A coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine will likely be available in the Philippines by the second quarter of 2021, and clinical trials will start in the country by the fourth quarter of 2020, an official from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) bared Wednesday.

DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara, chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force’s sub-technical working group on vaccine development, said the clinical trials would involve not just the vaccine made in Russia, but also those pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of the Solidarity Trial.

Earlier, she said the Philippines will undertake the clinical trials Phase 3 for four or five vaccines that are pre-qualified by WHO. Moreover, the DOST is pursuing collaboration with bilateral partners, whereby vaccine companies may undertake clinical trial Phase 3 in the country.

In a virtual presser, Lulu Bravo, executive director of Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, said the Philippines is among the favorite places of manufacturers to conduct clinical trials.

“This is because we are good at explaining to our patients the benefits that they could get. There is an informed consent. We tell them what could happen to them from the beginning until end, what are the benefits they could get from the vaccine,” Bravo said.

As to whether the clinical trial participants are being paid, DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development executive director Jaime Montoya said they just get a small amount, as compensation for the time they spend for the trial.

Participants should not be disturbed, and the amount that they receive is for the food and transportation, according to Montoya.

“They should not be given a huge amount, because some people may just do it not because they understand it, but just because of money,” he said.

Montoya, meanwhile, said, participants of clinical trials should only be those who are healthy and are not sick. Clinical trials are usually being done in areas where there is a huge number of transmission, he added.

Allaying fears

Bravo claimed that in the Philippines, no one died while participating in a clinical trial.

She said there are side effects, which Montoya said usually includes fever and swelling in the vaccine shot site.

“In a clinical trial, everything that happens to a patient — from the time that he or she is vaccinated, up to one or two years — is being monitored,” Bravo said in the vernacular.

If in case a vaccinated person dies, this will be investigated by experts and specialists, to find out if the cause of death is related to the vaccine, Bravo added.

“There is a liability clause, it is like an insurance. There is an allotment from the company. The patient knows that since that is included in the informed consent,” she said.

In the same presser, Food and Drug Administration director-general Eric Domingo noted that the Phase 3 clinical trial will not be accepted in the country if safety, security, and some level of efficiency were not proven in Phase 1 and 2 trials.

“We have the Ethical Board to ensure the safety of participants,” Domingo said. (PNA)