NORTHERN Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) liaison officer Dr. Bernard Rocha said Monday, November 23, that they trust the results of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine tests conducted by big foreign companies.
"Remember that there are several phases nga kinahanglan agian ang vaccine. Do we trust these big companies na regarding sa ilang mga resulta? Of course, we have to, because they nangita gyud silag solusyon, a vaccine, and they have been testing it," Rocha said.
Last week, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said the Vaccine Expert Panel of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases was evaluating AstraZeneca's application to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines for its candidate vaccine against Covid-19.
As of Friday, November 23, Domingo said only the application of Sinovac Biotech Ltd. of China was endorsed by the panel to FDA.
Other applications being evaluated by the panel came from Janssen Pharmaceutica of Belgium, Gamaleya Research Institute of Russia, and Clover Biopharmaceuticals of China.
"Remember dili kana sya na they have to go directly sa mga human subjects, they have to do it step-by-step," Rocha said.
The liaison officer of NMMC added that the effectivity of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the tests conducted by these companies, has reached 90 to 94 percent.
And while it did not reach a 100 percent effectivity, Rocha said there are no vaccine that can achieve the 100 percent immunity.
"But then, you see that 94 percent, even on two injections, that is actually very good. Out of the 40,000 na ilahang natagaan og vaccine, murag 90 ang natakdan gyud og Covid-19. The results are very good," Rocha said.
Rocha said they are hopeful that the Covid-19 vaccine will be released in the earliest possible time.
"We should trust these experts and these people who have been labor-staking, kanang mangita gyud og vaccine para sa kining dreaded nga Covid-19," Rocha added.