MANILA • The Philippines will begin large-scale human testing of Russia's Covid-19 vaccine in October, but President Rodrigo Duterte will not receive the inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman said yesterday.
Mr Duterte had earlier offered himself up as a guinea pig for the very first jab, expressing "huge trust" in the coronavirus vaccine, despite growing scepticism about its effectiveness.
But his spokesman Harry Roque said the President was scheduled to receive the vaccine no earlier than May 1 next year - weeks after the Russian-funded phase three clinical trial in the archipelago is due to end in March.
The country's Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the vaccine - developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the Russian Defence Ministry - in April.
"May 1 is when the PSG (presidential security group) may allow him, once all requisite tests have been finished," Mr Roque told reporters.
Russia says it has developed the world's first vaccine offering "sustainable immunity" against the coronavirus and is in the final stage of tests involving 2,000 people.
But its decision to grant approval before completing trials has raised concerns among some experts, who fear it may be putting national prestige before safety.
Moscow has brushed aside international concerns about the vaccine's safety and announced it will start mass inoculation this month before clinical testing is completed.
Russia's vaccination programme will be voluntary.
Philippine Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all clinical trials would need to go through the regulatory process.
Mr Roque said Philippine experts will review next month the results of Russia's phase one and phase two clinical trials before the South-east Asian country starts its phase three testing.
The phase three clinical trials in the Philippines are due to run from October to March next year, after a panel of vaccine experts completes its review on Russia's phase one and two trials next month, Mr Roque said. "We will do it simultaneously with Russia," he said.
Philippine officials from the science and technology department met with Gamaleya on Wednesday 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.
Dr 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 clinical trials next Monday for the Japanese antiviral drug Avigan to treat coronavirus patients.
The Philippines has logged the highest number of confirmed infections in South-east Asia with more than 147,000 cases and over 2,400 deaths. It reported another 4,002 new infections and 23 additional deaths in the country yesterday.
Mr Duterte is keen to access a vaccine and last month made a plea to China to make the Philippines a priority if it develops one.
The President has pledged that the Philippines, which suffered its biggest economic contraction in nearly three decades, would be "back to normal" by December even as it has been reporting record numbers of daily coronavirus infections since last month.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
