COVID-19 vaccine may be at hand by 2nd quarter of 2021 — DOST

MANILA, Philippines — A vaccine against the coronavirus disease may be made available to the public by the second quarter of 2021, the Department of Science and Technology said Wednesday.

DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said clinical trials for a vaccine against COVID-19 will start in the Philippines by the fourth quarter of this year.

“If we’re talking about the availability en masse, we believe this [COVID-19 vaccine] is going to be happening in the second quarter of next year,” she said in an online media forum.

“But if we’re talking about the clinical trials, it will start in the fourth quarter of this year,” Guevarra added.

The Philippines is currently in talks with 16 vaccine manufacturers worldwide to get access to a remedy against the coronavirus pandemic.

Among the vaccines the Philippines will try is the Sputnik V from Russia. The country will conduct Phase 3 of clinical trials of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine from October 2020 to March 2021.

The human testing phase will be funded by the Russian government and will be done simultaneously in Manila and Moscow.

During Phase 3 of the clinical trials, thousands of patients will have to be vaccinated to test its safety and efficacy. These trials will be funded by the Russian government and will be conducted simultaneously in Manila and Moscow.

The country also joined COVAX Facility, a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

The Philippines is likewise part of the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Trial for different COVID-19 treatment.

EDV