Trials of a vaccine opposed to Russian-made COVID-19 will begin in the Philippines in October, a spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday, indicating that the country’s leader would take the drug once it is complete.
Phase 3 trials of the vaccine will be conducted here and in Russia from October and will continue until next March, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a daily press conference in Manila. Trials in the Philippines will begin after an organization of vaccine experts reviews the effects of clinical trials during the first and stage of testing, he said.
Roque said Duterte was serious about a comment he made this week in which the president volunteered to take the vaccine, provided his security branch clarified it.
“May 1 is the time when the PSG [Presidential Security Group] can allow it, after all the tests have been conducted for this vaccine,” Roque said at a virtual press conference. “Let me repeat, the president can be vaccinated by 1 May 2021.”
“This is a metaphorical statement, he’s ready to go through it,” Roque said, and stressed that he will have the final approval of Duterte’s security service.
To appease the public about considerations for vaccine protection, Duterte said Tuesday that he was in a position to be the first Filipino to undergo testing.
The president said this by pronouncing that his government accepted an offer from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the Philippines would be among the first nations to obtain the Sputnik V loose vaccine developed through the Gamaleya Research Institute for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow.
On Tuesday, it coincided with the fact that Russia has the country to sign the world’s first vaccine against coronavirus disease, as nations around the global struggle to expand a cure for the epidemic that has spread around the world. The Russian vaccine is named after the first satellite introduced through the Soviet Union more than 60 years ago.
Roque said the Gamaleya Institute and the Philippine Department of Health agreed to conduct joint clinical trials here, which will be funded through Moscow.
“I am pleased to announce that Russia is open to switching generations for local vaccine manufacturing,” Roque said. “In truth, they are also encouraging other countries to make their vaccines.”
Since it came into force in 2016, Duterte has distanced himself from his former defense ally, the United States, and has shifted to its rivals, Russia and China.
In the past he said China had also promised to prioritize Manila when it developed its own vaccine opposed to COVID-19.
On Thursday, the Philippine Department of Health reported 23 coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 2,426. There were also 4002 new infections, with a total number of infections in the country of 147,526, the number of coronavirus cases among all East Asian countries.
Russia’s announcement this week has generated concern. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the United States, said he was in doubt that the Russian vaccine was in a position to be used by the public.
“Having a vaccine and showing that a vaccine is effective is two other things,” fauci, according to The Hill, a U.S. news site that covers the U.S. Congress.
Mark Navals of Cotabato, Philippines, contributed to this report.