Russia ready to supply Philippines with coronavirus vaccines

August 9, 2020

Russia on Friday said it is ready to send coronavirus vaccines to the Philippines.

Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev, in a press briefing, said: ''We already have the vaccine so all necessary bureaucratic procedures in order to get an official administrative approval might be completed until mid-August,"

"The vaccine is effective and safe," he added.

Khovaev proposed conducting clinical trials and setting up a vaccine production hub in the country once approved by the Philippine government.

"We are ready to combine our efforts. We are ready to make the necessary investments with our Filipino partners and we are ready to share our technologies simply because we want to build a robust partnership between our two nations," he said.

Khovaev said Russia's proposals are "now under consideration" by the Philippine side.

"We don't make promises. We make suggestions based on what we already know and what we have done. We are waiting for a feedback," Khovaev said.

''We are ready to discuss any sale. We're ready to launch necessary negotiation process in order to cooperate, all details of parameters or conditions and preconditions of possible bilateral cooperation and I believe this could be mutually beneficial," he said.

Six COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including three from China, have entered Phase 3 trials, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Vaccine developers University of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna/NIAID, BioNTech/Fosun Pharma/Pfizer, Sinovac, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products/Sinopharm and Beijing Institute of Biological Products/Sinopharm have passed regulatory approval and  pre-qualification from  WHO.

The Philippines has the most number of cases in Southeast Asia with 122, 754 infections and 2,168 deaths. DMS