Duterte volunteers for trial, has ‘huge trust’ in Russian vaccine
President Rodrigo Duterte lauded Russia’s efforts to develop a Covid-19 vaccine and is willing to participate in trials, as he welcomed a supply offer from Moscow he expects will be free of charge.
The Philippines has among Asia’s highest numbers of Covid-19 infections, which rose to 136,638 on Monday after a record daily jump of 6,958 cases.
“I will tell President (Vladimir) Putin that I have huge trust in your studies in combating Covid-19 and I believe that the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity,” Duterte said on television late on Monday.
However, the frenetic global race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine has raised concern that speed and national prestige could compromise safety.
To allay public fears, Duterte offered to be a guinea pig when the vaccine arrived, saying: “I can be the first they can experiment on.”
His office yesterday said the Philippines stands ready to work with Russia on vaccine trials, supply and production.
In July, Duterte made a plea to his Chinese counterpart to make the Philippines a priority if it develops a vaccine amid concern in developing countries about availability.
This month, he restored a strict lockdown in and around the capital city of Manila for an initial two weeks, heeding the plea of medical frontliners for a “time out” amid a surge in infections during a period when restrictions were eased.
If the situation becomes a “runaway contagion”, Duterte on Monday vowed to mobilise the military to enforce the lockdown.