Actually no it does not... without those abilities VC becomes what is called a librarian editor.. Such software has the ability to manage, select and edit patches and modify control and set operational parameters.... a librarian/editor assumes you have midi into the unit for note selection (a keyboard/controller) and audio out of it for playback..
That would mean to add to VC the capabilities to listen to a MIDI in port and feed an audio out port, in order to play the patches you search, since as a plugin it relies on the DAW to give it the MIDI data, and take the audio away from it.