The House of Representatives Committee on Health on Wednesday (June 2) received a briefing from various experts on the efforts of the scientific community to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quezon Rep. Angelina “Helen” Tan, chairperson of the health panel, said the briefing seeks to communicate the current efforts of the government, assess key issues, identify gaps and challenges, and pave the way for a robust collaborative endeavor as the country faces the COVID-19 health crisis.
The briefing, led by key officials from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Health (DOH), and other stakeholders, highlighted the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial study for COVID-19 vaccines, specifically on their safety and efficacy; the study on the mix and match of COVID-19 vaccine brands and platforms; and the immunosurveillance study on the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines in the real world.
WHO Solidarity Trial
DOST Sec. Fortunato dela Peña said the main objective of the Solidarity Trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a two-dose regimen of SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccines against RT-PCR confirmed symptomatic COVID-19.
“The participation in the Solidarity Vaccine Trials is one of the best strategies that will allow the Philippines to avail [of] newer COVID-19 vaccine candidates which are already in the later or more advanced stages of vaccine development,” he said.
Other studies
He also pointed out that ongoing studies to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of mixing different COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine platforms in Filipino adults will address supply shortages through the proposed interchanging or mixing and matching administration of available COVID-19 vaccines in the country, as well as offer flexibility in the administration of the second dose.
Meanwhile, clinical and serologic surveillance among adult individuals who have been fully vaccinated will help confirm real world vaccine effectiveness, which will be of immediate benefit to vaccinated individuals, health facilities, and the government as well as contribute to addressing data gaps in the immune response elicited both by natural infection and vaccination.
Serology testing limitations
Experts, however, reminded the public of the limitations of COVID-19 antibody, or serology, testing.
“While antibody tests are important in identifying individuals who may have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and those who may have developed an adaptive immune response, antibody tests should not be used at this time to determine protection or immunity against COVID-19, especially after a person has received a COVID-19 vaccination,” Dr. Regina Berba of the University of the Philippines Manila-National Institutes of Health (NIH) explained.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has previously warned that antibody tests are not one-size-fits-all and that misinterpreting antibody test results could lead people to take fewer precautions than necessary, or cause vaccine hesitancy on the part of the public.
Experts pointed out that the vaccines themselves can lead to positive antibody results on some tests, and on the other hand, a lack of antibodies detected does not mean that a vaccinated person did not have a protective immune response.
Tan, a medical doctor, reiterated the experts’ call against the antibody tests.
“I would like to call on the DOH and other concerned agencies to closely monitor and regulate health facilities that are offering serology testing among adult individuals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, in order to protect the integrity of the government’s vaccination program and promote vaccine confidence among the Filipinos,” she said.
Virgin coconut oil study
Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa of DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) presented an update on the study on virgin coconut oil (VCO) as a dietary supplement among COVID-19 probable and suspect cases, where five of the 29 patients who were served meals with VCO were shown to have manifested diminishing signs and symptoms as early as the second day.
On the other hand, only one patient served with the same meals but without VCO showed similar improvement. Based on a completed study, participants in the intervention group showed a significant decline in the C-reactive protein (CRP) level, with the mean CRP level normalized on the 14th day intervention. This concludes that as an adjunct therapy, mixing VCO into meals is effective in fostering recovery from COVID-19.
‘VIP’ bill
DOST also underscored the importance of enacting the proposed bill on the establishment of the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VIP) as it will give the country the capacity and independence to develop its own vaccine for relevant viral diseases.
In her remarks, Tan, who is the main sponsor and one of the principal authors of House Bill No. 9559, otherwise known as the “Virology Institute of the Philippines Act,” reported that the bill is already approaching the final stage of the legislative process in the House of Representatives. (HoR-Comm. on Health) -jlo
