The Philippines is to begin large-scale human testing of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine in October, but Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte would not receive the inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman said yesterday.
Duterte had offered himself up as a guinea pig for the very first jab, expressing “huge trust” in the vaccine, despite growing skepticism about its effectiveness.
However, Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte was scheduled to receive the vaccine no earlier than May 1 — weeks after the Russian-funded Phase 3 clinical trial in the nation is due to end in March.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the vaccine — developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the Russian Ministry of Defense — in April.
“May 1 is when the PSG [presidential security group] may allow him, once all requisite tests have been finished,” Roque told reporters.
Moscow says it has developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the novel coronavirus and is in the final stage of tests involving 2,000 people.
Photo: AFP / Russian Direct Investment Fund
Roque said Philippine experts would review next month the results of Russia’s Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials before the Southeast Asian nation starts its Phase 3 testing.
“We will do it simultaneously with Russia,” Roque said.
Officials from the Philippine Department of Science and Technology on Wednesday met with representatives of Gamaleya to discuss the protocols for the trial of the vaccine, which is dubbed “Sputnik V” after the pioneering Soviet satellite of the 1950s.
The Philippines, which is struggling to contain the virus, has accepted Russia’s offer to participate in production of the vaccine.
Anna Lisa Ong-Lim, an infectious disease professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Medicine, said the government’s timeline to have a vaccine available by May was “very optimistic.”
The country is also set to start on Monday next week clinical trials for the Japanese antiviral drug Avigan to treat COVID-19 patients.
The Philippines has logged the highest number of confirmed infections in Southeast Asia, with more than 147,500 cases and more than 2,400 deaths.
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