ILOILO CITY — Residents of Calinog town, Iloilo province are prohibited from participating in clinical trials for new vaccines against COVID-19.
In Executive Order No. 2022-001, Mayor Francisco Calvo specifically mentioned that residents cannot participate in clinical trials conducted for Wantai or WestVac.
Calvo issued the order after receiving reports that some of the town’s residents who participated in the clinical trials last December 2021 did test positive for COVID-19.
The local government unit (LGU) of Calinog surmised that there may have been violations committed during the conduct of the clinical trials that had participants getting their swab tests in Iloilo City and were told to go travel back to Calinog.
“If any of our residents did participate, became positive of COVID-19, and might be the reason for infecting others, then the persons can be held accountable as well as the institutions that conducted the clinical trials,” said Calvo.
The LGU estimated that at least 30 residents from the barangays (villages) of Tabucan, Carvasana, Lojoy, Cabugao, Baldna Pequeño, Banban Grande, Ipil, and Poblacion Delgado were paid a minimum of Php 5,000 to participate in the clinical trials.