BY DHEL NAZARIO
Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V is projected to be available for approval in the country by April 2021, an official of the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research Development (DoDoST-PCHRD) said.
In an interview over DZBB, PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya said that for the vaccine to be available for other countries, an approval from the Russian Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is required.
“Best case scenario po, based on the projections of the Russian vaccine developers, they will have FDA approval in Russia after the phase end of Quarter 1, 2021. So in other countries, their respective FDAs may approve sometime Q2 2021,” Montoya said.
He clarified that the current certification for the Russian vaccine is for emergency use only.
The Russian government approved the vaccine after Phase 2 of its clinical trials due to the pandemic. This means the vaccine will only be available to “high risk” individuals such as health workers and the elderly. It will not be used on a wide scale.
“Kasi hihintayin pa po nila ang Phase 3 pero considered na po siya as certified at this stage para magamit po ng ilang sector ng kanilang population,” Montoyo said in the interview. (Dhel Nazario)
