Paraguay to participate in Taiwanese Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Paraguay will be part of phase 3 clinical trials of Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corporation of Taiwan’s Covid-19 vaccine from next week, said the company’s representative in the South American country Dr. Gabriela Horvat.

Some 2,000 doses of the MVC Covid-19 vaccine have been delivered to begin the trial, in which people over 18 years of age who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 are eligible to participate, except pregnant or breastfeeding women.

The vaccine is administered in two doses, with a 29-day interval between them.

The vaccine was developed using a traditional, protein subunit platform that is also used for other vaccines such as hepatitis B, Horvat explained.

If people who wish to take part in the 7-month trial have been vaccinated against influenza or had Covid-19, they will be required to wait one month before being able to join.

Trials will be conducted by Paraguayan researchers from the Clínicas Hospital of the National University of Asunción’s School of Medicine and the Tesai Foundation.

Horvat said that this is the first time that Paraguay has taken part in a clinical trial of this level and added that local production is not ruled out.