WHO urges PH to fast-track vaccine approval process

The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged the Philippines to prepare its regulatory processes to expedite the assessment and approval of a COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.

Socorro Escalante, WHO acting country representative for the Philippines, advised the government to use the current development time to refine evaluation procedures and formulate a vaccine strategy.

Escalante highlighted the importance of prioritizing healthcare workers and individuals with comorbidities for vaccination due to the limited initial supply.

The process of developing a vaccine is described as highly technical and tedious, involving stages of candidate identification, clinical trials (phases 1-3), and national regulatory review before authorization and post-market surveillance (phase 4).

The WHO also noted that if the Philippines were to develop its own vaccine in the future, it would need to enhance its local production capacity, particularly in terms of technology and quality testing laboratories, despite having capable scientists and institutions like the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.