MANILA— The Philippines is set to undertake a P100-million study on the effects of COVID-19 vaccines on Filipinos, an official from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said Tuesday.

The research seeks to answer questions on the vaccines' effects as determined by ethnicity and how long their efficacy would last on Filipinos, DOST Undersecretary Rowena Guevara said in an online press conference.

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"Habang nag va-vaccinate 'yung Department of Health (DOH), pipili tayo ng participants doon na susundan natin 'yung nangyayari sa kanila after the vaccination after a year or so," she said.

(While the Department of Health is vaccinating people, we will select participants we will follow for a year or so and see what happens to them.)

"We expect that every quarter there will be milestones. Every quarter puwede kaming magreport (We can release reports every quarter)," she said.

The study is expected to begin in June with 1,000 participants, but the number may change depending on the research design that would be approved.

The Philippines, which began its nationwide inoculation program in March, has been using COVID-19 jabs from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinovac, and Sputnik V.

As of May 22, the country has fully vaccinated 949,939 Filipinos while 3,147,486 have received their first dose, according to data from the DOH.

• Administered COVID-19 vaccine doses in Philippines top 4 million

The national government seeks to increase the country's daily vaccination rate to 500,000 people a day from the current 168,000 to achieve herd immunity within the year.

• PH eyes 500,000 daily COVID-19 vaccination to achieve herd immunity

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