(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 15, 2020, a medical worker shows a vial with Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac) vaccine against the coronavirus disease. The vaccine has 91.6-percent efficiency against COVID-19 according to a recent study and is already being used in several countries around the world. (Photo by Pavel KOROLYOV / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker in the House of Representatives on Saturday expressed hope that Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine can be made in the Philippines after the vaccine’s developer, Gamaleya Research Institute was granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“I am hoping that proposals to set up a manufacturing hub in the Philippines will push through because this will not only boost our vaccine efforts but also contribute to our capability to produce our own vaccines not only for COVID-19 but for other diseases as well,” San Juan Del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes said in a statement.
Robes serves as the chairperson of the House committee on people participation that held hearings about the vaccine.
On Friday, the FDA announced that it granted the Sputnik V vaccine an EUA, making it the fourth vaccine to have secured an EUA in the country.
FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said that based on interim data from the ongoing Stage 3 clinical trials, the Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective in preventing COVID-19.
“I am so happy that Sputnik has finally been given EUA by the FDA. Sputnik V will be a great addition to our vaccine efforts so we can cover not only 20 percent of our population but all Filipinos,” Robes said of the FDA’s decision to grant the vaccine an EUA.