The Philippine Department of Health will hold separate meetings with representatives of the Russian embassy in Manila and the US pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, to discuss the possible purchase of vaccines against COVID-19, state media reported on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2020) The Philippine Department of Health will hold separate meetings with representatives of the Russian embassy in Manila and the US pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, to discuss the possible purchase of vaccines against COVID-19, state media reported on Friday.
According to the PNA news agency, citing Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, having several sources for the vaccine is good for any country, and holding talks with the Russian � and potentially Chinese � vaccine manufacturers will not affect the Philippines' consultations with the US company.
"I don't think this will affect our negotiations with other institutions and other countries and I think it's not only the Philippines conducting negotiations with different manufacturers, all countries do that ... It's complimentary," the health official said, as quoted by the media outlet.
Vergeire added that talks with the Russian diplomatic mission in Manila and the Pfizer company would be attended by the country's senior officials.
The Russian vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Research institute, was named Sputnik V and registered on August 11. Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed the vaccine, saying it has passed all necessary checks. Manila was one of the first to express interest in Sputnik V and the readiness to cooperate with Moscow on clinical trials and production, while Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has even expressed readiness to take the inoculation in public. The vaccine is still underway with the third phase of clinical trials.
Meanwhile, Pfizer is cooperating with German biotechnological company BioNTech to develop a vaccine, and the companies are prepared to make up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020, and possibly more than 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 2 of clinical trials.
