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Duterte: Countries have perfected some vaccines vs. COVID-19


President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night claimed several countries have already “perfected” vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“Ang masabi ko sa inyo na good news is that we believe and i believe too that many countries have now perfected some vaccines,” Duterte said in his nationally-televised address.

“Maybe some are haphazard kasi madalian eh. The quest for vaccine takes time, years. Dito nagmamadalian,” he added.

In his address to the nation last April 16, Duterte also talked about “horse antibodies” against COVID-19.

An article from Time’s website in March reported that a biopharmaceutical company in the United States was looking to other possible sources of antibodies against COVID-19—specifically, horses.

Emergent BioSolutions, a pharmaceutical company based in Maryland has turned to horses as a source of plasma.

Laura Saward, the head of the company's therapeutic business unit, told Time that the horses' size made them ideal donors.

In a statement, Emergent  said the plasma of immunized horses with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could be developed as a potential treatment for critically ill patients.

Earlier, Duterte has repeatedly stressed the importance of vaccines against fighting COVID-19. He also cited reported successes of Chinese researchers in developing a vaccine.

As of Monday afternoon, the Philippines has recorded a total of 30,682 cases of COVID-19, including 8,143 recoveries and 1,177 fatalities. -NB, GMA News

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