Duque: PH needs more information on Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine

FILE PHOTO: A scientist prepares samples during the research and development of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a laboratory of BIOCAD biotechnology company in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 11, 2020. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — The COVID-19 vaccine from Russia needs more study before it can be used in the Philippines, country’s top health official said on Wednesday.

“Depende pa iyan (it depends), we have to learn more about it. Wala pa tayong documents (We don’t have documents yet). We need more information, very scarce pa yung information,” Health chief Francisco Duque III told reporters in an ambush interview after the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases attended a free face mask event in Rizal.

Duque was reacting to the newly-registered COVID-19 vaccine in Moscow, Russia.

Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire earlier disclosed that the Department of Science and Technology  will coordinate with Gamaleya Institute, the manufacturer of Russia’s vaccine, to discuss the possible participation of the Philippines in the vaccine’s clinical trials.

Palace, meanwhile, welcomed Russia’s development, saying the vaccine should undergo a regulatory process before it can be used for mass inoculation.

As of Wednesday, the Philippines has 143,749 total cases of COVID-19 including 68,997 recoveries and 2,404 fatalities.

CFC