The Philippines is expected to begin its "Mix and Match" trial, or MnM study, at the end of this month or early November, to assess the safety and immunogenicity of mixing different COVID-19 vaccines in Filipino adults.
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara, in an interview with DZMM radio station. said that the government is recruiting up to 1,500 unvaccinated individuals for studies including mixing China's Sinovac shots with other brands.
"We need to know what is the best combination of vaccines for Filipinos," Guevara said.
Previously, the DOST stated that the study assumes China-made Sinovac as the first dose because it is the vaccine with the most stable supply in storage.
Secondary doses in the study include Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer-BIONTech and Moderna.
The DOST also provided P114.9 million ($2.2 million) for another study on the efficacy of the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, which is being conducted by the University of the Philippines-Manila.
The study will include three groups: Group A, which will investigate the same vaccinations on the same platform; Group B, which will examine the vaccines to be interchanged; and Group C, which will study the special high-risk group, which will be given a booster dosage.
The completion of the Sinovac-Sinovac and AstraZeneca-AstraZeneca vaccine series will be evaluated in Group A to serve as the study's control group.
The other vaccines that have already been granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the FDA will be mixed after the first Sinovac dosage in Group B.
Group C will get the identical set of vaccines as Group A, but as a third dose.
Apart from determining the safety and immunogenicity of switching vaccine brands to complete the COVID-19 vaccine series, the study also aims to see if high-risk individuals who have already completed the Sinovac vaccine dosing regimen will have a better immune response after receiving a booster dose from a different vaccine platform or brand.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Southeast Asia, with approximately 2.8 million cases and nearly 42,000 deaths.
As of Oct. 24, the Philippines has fully vaccinated 25.7 million people, or almost a third of its vaccine-eligible population, according to government data. Sinovac was responsible for over half of the 97.7 million shots supplied in the country.
