{"id":264767,"date":"2020-08-10T22:17:46","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T02:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=264767"},"modified":"2020-08-10T22:17:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-11T02:17:46","slug":"prrd-accepts-russias-covid-19-vaccine-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/10\/prrd-accepts-russias-covid-19-vaccine-offer\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD accepts Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine offer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malaca\u00f1ang on August 2, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday accepted the offer of Russia to supply the Philippines with its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines once mass production starts.<\/p>\n

In a public address in Davao City, Duterte said he is \u201cvery happy\u201d by the news that Russia would provide vaccines free of charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaligayang-maligaya ako kasi ang Russia, kaibigan natin ito. Ang ano nila is magbigay sila ng bakuna. Wala naman silang sinasabi bayaran mo. Ito, tingin ko kay President [Vladimir] Putin, tulong niya sa atin, libre<\/em>\u00a0(I am very happy because Russia is our friend. They\u2019re going to give free vaccines. They didn\u2019t say anything about paying for it. I think this is President Putin\u2019s way of helping us, by giving it for free),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the Philippine government will accept it and talk about how much of a supply the country needs.<\/p>\n

Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev on Friday said the country has developed an “effective and safe” vaccine created by the Gameleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology.<\/p>\n

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier conveyed its appreciation for Russia\u2019s willingness to assist the Philippines, as well as its offer to supply the vaccine developed by Gamaleya.<\/p>\n

The offer has been referred to relevant agencies for proper assessment and evaluation, DFA said.<\/p>\n

First volunteer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duterte volunteered to be the first person to be injected with the Russian vaccine in public.<\/p>\n

\u201cPagdating ng bakuna, in public, para walang satsat diyan magpa-injection ako. Ako yung maunang maeksperimentuhan. Okay para sa akin<\/em>\u00a0(When the vaccine arrives i will have the public witness my vaccination so people won\u2019t say anything, I\u2019ll agree to be injected. I\u2019ll be the first to be experimented on. It\u2019s fine with me),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he wanted to show Putin that he has full trust in Russia\u2019s scientific studies and believes that the vaccine produced is \u201cgood for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPara ipakita ko sa kanila na tiwala ako at hindi sila nagkamali mag-offer ako pagdating, yung doctor nila o doctor natin, ako ang unang magpabakuna<\/em>\u00a0(To show them that I trust them and they didn\u2019t make the mistake of offering us a vaccine, I will be the first to be injected with the vaccine),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

If the vaccine can be administered to him, Duterte said it could most likely be administered to everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cTingnan natin kung puwede ba. Kung puwede sa akin, puwede sa lahat. Ngayon, kung hindi puwede sa akin, \u2018yan nga yung problema<\/em>\u00a0(Let\u2019s see if it\u2019s recommended for me. If it\u2019s okay for me, it\u2019s recommended for everybody. Now, if it\u2019s not recommended, that\u2019s the problem),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to coordinate with the Russian government for the possible transfer of the technology for Covid-19 vaccine to the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u2018Friends forever\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

During one of his state visits to Russia, Duterte said Putin told him that if he had any medical-related concerns, he is free to approach the Russian government.<\/p>\n

Duterte visited Russia twice \u2014 in 2017 and 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSabi niya noon nung nagbisita ako sa kanya, sabi niya<\/em>\u00a0(He said during the time I visited him) \u2018if you have a question on anything about medicines or cures, feel free to call me and anyone you\u2019d like to be confined and treated here in Russia and we will help you develop the medicines that your country needs\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While other nations also offered to provide the Philippines with Covid-19 vaccines, Duterte said there is no certainty if it would be given for free.<\/p>\n

He, however, feels Russia would not renege of its promise.<\/p>\n

He also vowed to pay his debt of gratitude to Russia and keep their friendly ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeday we will, makabayad man kami sa utang ng loob sainyo but I promise you that the Philippines and Russia would remain friends forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Covid-free Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a possible Russian vaccine in the works, Duterte expressed hope that the world would be Covid-free by December.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaghintay kayo. Actually ang vaccines they are to be distributed worldwide na \u2018yan by September, October. Bibitawan na nila dahan-dahan<\/em>\u00a0(Just wait. Actually, the vaccines are to be distributed worldwide by September, October. It would be slowly released),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He admitted that there would still be a need for clinical trials to be completed, but the waiting will be much shorter from now on.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy December,\u00a0sabi ko<\/em>\u00a0(I said) in the fullness of God\u2019s time, we will have a hopefully a Covid-free December and we can enjoy this Christmas season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Russia said it aims to launch the mass production of Covid019 vaccines in September and turn out \u201cseveral million\u201d doses per month by next year.<\/p>\n

Russian scientists said results from clinical trials have been “promising.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday accepted the offer of Russia to supply the Philippines with its coronavirus disease 2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":263828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264768,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264767\/revisions\/264768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}