WHO solidarity trial to initially test 2 types of COVID-19 vaccine; 2 more eyed
CNN Philippines – The World Health Organization’s solidarity trial will initially test two types of COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
Dr. Marissa Alejandria, one of those in charge of the local solidarity trial, said subunit (ex. Novavax) and DNA types of vaccine are included in the study, but they may also add mRNA (ex. Pfizer, Moderna), and intranasal shots to the list.
Unlike traditional vaccine types, mRNA and DNA shots use a genetic sequence of the virus-causing disease to prompt an immune response while subunit vaccines us parts of a virus to provoke antibody production.
Meanwhile, intranasal vaccines are sprayed into the nostrils and inhaled.
“Currently, what we have is the subunit vaccine and then the DNA vaccine,” Alejandria said in an online media forum.
“Hopefully, we will have an intranasal vaccine in the trial. That is in the pipeline. We are looking also at having an mRNA vaccine but the storage requirements are less stringent than the current mRNA vaccines that we have,” Alejandria added.
She also said they might use a single-dose mRNA shot.
The local Solidarity trial aims to recruit 15,000 to 20,000 healthy and unvaccinated individuals aged 16 and above, principal investigator Jodor Lim said in the same forum.
Lim said they have started to enroll study participants in Metro Manila and hope to recruit more from areas with low vaccination coverage.
The study will continue until the required number of volunteers is reached and evidence completed, according to WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe.
Abeyasinghe said that aside from safety and efficacy, Solidarity aims to find out how to “transport vaccines and make them available in the furthest corners of the globe,” as well as how to make the shots “more easily administrable.”
Solidarity was supposed to start last year, but it was delayed multiple times as WHO took caution in selecting which vaccines to test.
