The Department of Health (DOH) said on Friday, November 27, that it will wait for official information from United Kingdom-based drug maker AstraZeneca after doubts were raised over its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said it is AstraZeneca’s responsibility to inform the government about the issue since the country has an ongoing negotiation with them.

“They are responsible to provide us with adequate information [about this] allegation regarding their study,” Vergeire said after she was asked to comment on the issue.

Experts in the US this week raised doubts after finding out that the second group of participants in the AstraZeneca trials was limited to people aged 55 and below – an age group with a lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Vergeire said vaccine experts in the country are also requesting for more information on the allegation so that they could further study the implications.

In the same briefing, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Director Jaime Montoya said that AstraZeneca is “presently evaluating and analyzing where the errors were and why this happened, and we don’t foresee that this would have an effect on efficacy.”

“It’s just a question of numbers and the basis for such numbers,” he added.

Why this matters

On Friday afternoon, the Philippine government and private companies signed a deal for two million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The two million doses would be completely funded by private firms. The government is still negotiating with AstraZeneca for around 20 million doses paid for with public funds.

Last November 20, Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said that AstraZeneca had applied to conduct coronavirus vaccine clinical trials in the country.

Montoya said the DOST welcomes the agreement between the Philippines and the UK-based company for the purchase of 2 million vaccine doses. 

“It does not affect in any way the plan of AstraZeneca to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines,” he said, adding that the Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that will participate in the company’s clinical trials.

Clinical trials are a type of research that evaluates potential medical interventions that affect one’s health. During trials, medicines, treatments, procedures, and devices may be tested to study or verify their clinical or pharmacological effects before they are approved for public use.

As of Friday, the Philippines has 425,918 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 8,255 deaths, 387,616 recoveries, and 30,047 active cases. – Rappler.com