MANILA – The Philippines begins in October clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine developed in Russia that, according to Moscow, is the first in the world approved to save it from the disease, a government spokesman said Thursday.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who volunteered this week to get vaccinated, plans to get vaccinated starting May next year, spokesman Harry Roque told the press.
The Philippines is ready for a source of vaccines for its population after beating Indonesia to lead Southeast Asia in COVID-19 cases.
Philippine scientists will first read about the effects of phase 1 and 2 trials on the Russian vaccine. Trials in the Philippines will last until March and will be paid through Russia, Roque said.
They will be in parallel with the Phase 3 tests in Russia. Manila aims to approve the vaccine in April.
Russia’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday approved the vaccine opposed to locally evolving coronavirus without such late-stage tests, which are required for regulatory approval. Western fitness experts have expressed doubts about the protection and effectiveness of shooting.
At a news conference on Monday, Duterte accepted Russia’s offer of a source of vaccine. The Philippine president expressed his hope that the source would be provided free of charge, but Moscow commented on the price.
The Philippines has more than 140,000 cases of COVID-19 and the spread of the virus shows no symptoms of slowdown. Manila is also in talks to get vaccines from the US and the UK, finance secretary Carlos Dominguez said.
Public confidence in vaccines in the Philippines was shaken when French company Sanofi Pasteur said in 2017 that its dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, could pose a superior danger to others who were not affected by mosquito-borne disease in the past.
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