President Duterte welcomed last Tuesday Russia’s offer of its anti-COVID -19 vaccine which it plans to start administering to its teachers and health care workers in October. Since all other vaccines now under development in various other countries won’t be ready until December or later, the Russian vaccine would be the first.
But, it must be pointed out, the Russian vaccine, while it has been granted government regulatory approval, still has to complete final testing. Vaccines normally undergo five phases in their development – a pre-clinical testing using animals to see if it produces an immune response, Phase 1 Safety Trials using a small number of people, Phase 2 Expanded Trials using hundreds of people, Phase 3 Efficacy Trials using thousands of people in which it must prove effective in at least 50 percent, and final approval by government regulators.
Russia’s vaccine has completed its Phase 2 Expanded Trials. A Reuters report Wednesday said Phase 3 trials will start soon in the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines. We are, therefore, part of the final testing. Which is why the President said he would be the first to take a vaccine shot to show that he trusts their studies and to make sure it is safe for Filipinos.
“Ako ang unang magpapabakuna in public…. Ako ang unang ma-experimentuhan…. Tingnan natin, kung pwede sa akin, pwede sa lahat,” he said. The President expressed readiness to assist Russia in the clinical trials as well as in the production of the vaccine.
The Russian vaccine is one of six vaccines leading a total of 125 being developed by researchers around the world. The other leading ones are a United Kingdom vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, a vaccine by Pfizer of the United States and Germany’s BioNTech, Novavax, also of the US, and a vaccine of CanSino Biologics now undergoing Phase 3 trials in China. Undergoing Phase 1 trials are Italy’s ReiThera, Taiwan’s Medigen, and India’s Zydus Cadila.
Until an effective vaccine is available to the world, the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to threaten humanity. Once China is ready with its vaccine, we are assured that we will be among the first to get it. We are similarly assured that Russia will share its vaccine with us. In fact, we are now part of the final trials before its final approval for release to the world.
