Palace expects Russia to share COVID-19 vaccine with Philippines once available

Malacañang said on Tuesday it expects Russia to give the Philippines access once the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Russian researchers becomes available.

Media reports in Russia said on Sunday that human trials for the vaccine candidate had been finished and the results indicated that it is safe for use. The potential vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.

“I hope it’s true kasi alam ninyo naman po hindi mababalik sa normal ang buhay natin kung walang vaccine,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a televised briefing.

“At dahil naman po sa bagong polisiya ng Presidente natin na independent foreign policy kung saan kaibigan tayo ng lahat at kalaban ng walang kahit sinong bansa, inaasahan po natin na kung mayroon mang vaccine ma-develop ang mga Russians ay ishi-share po nila iyan sa atin.”

On June 11, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to give the Philippines priority access once China develops a vaccine.

Xi gave the assurance during his telephone conversation with President Rodrigo Duterte about ways to combat the spread of the virus, which has infected 13 million people and killed over 570,000 worldwide.

Last week, Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez urged the Department of Health (DOH) to allocate funding for the procurement of a vaccine against COVID-19 under its proposed budget for 2021.

Rodriguez believed that it is the DOH and not Congress or any other agency that could estimate the cost and how they could be accessed from manufacturers. — BM, GMA News