Handa raw ang bansang Russia na mag-produce ng COVID-19 vaccine para sa Pilipinas sa Enero, kung handa na rin ang bansa na tumanggap ng supply ng bakuna laban sa coronavirus.
“It’s subject to doing our own due diligence on it but they can start producing for us because they have to produce it as it is ordered, as early as January if we are ready to accept it,” ani Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Carlos Sorreta.
Nilinaw ng opisyal na pasado naman sa standard ng World Health Organization ang COVID-19 vaccine ng Russia, kaya nga may ibang bansa na tulad ng South Korea, na lumagda ng “co-production agreement” sa Moscow para makapag-produce ang kanilang estado ng bakunang gawa ng Russian scientists.
“They have complied with the standard, I’m not sure what the evidence is that they have not observed. As far as we know, they are in discussions with WHO and I’m sure countries like Korea and Brazil won’t sign co-production if its true that Russian have not complied with WHO.”
Tuloy-tuloy naman daw ang koordinasyon ng Russia sa local agencies ng Pilipinas tulad ng Department of Health (DOH) at Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Batay sa huling update ng DOH, nakapagpasa na sa ating Vaccine Expert Panel ng Confidentiality Data Agreement ang Gamaleya Research Institute ng Russia na may gawa ng Sputnik V. Pero hindi pa rin masimulan ang evaluation ng aplikasyon nitong clinical trial dahil may mga kulang pa na dokumento.
Ayon kay Ambassador Sorreta, naka-depende pa rin sa kahandaan ng ating pamahalaan ang paggawa ng bakuna ng Russia para sa Pilipinas.
“They know the demand is very high so it’s really a matter of how early we can do our own due diligence and then sign an agreement, do the procurement process.”
“Of course, we need to be ready with some of the infrastructure para ho sa storage at the required temperatures. There’s a version of the vaccine that will not require extreme temperatures but it might be a little more expensive.”
