(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte thanked Russia and China for offering to the Philippines the vaccines they are developing against COVID-19.
Duterte said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have both offered to help the country address its COVID-19 problems by offering the vaccines which their scientists are developing to fight the virus.
“As I have stated time and again repeatedly that the only salvation available to humankind at this time of our life is if you are stricken with a virus, the answer is always vaccine,” he said.
“I would like to thank Russia, President Putin, and China, President Xi Jinping, for offering to provide us with the vaccine as soon as it is possible for distribution to the public,” he said in his address to the nation on Monday night, Aug. 17, where he announced quarantine protocols for Metro Manila and the rest of the country.
“I cannot overemphasize my debt of gratitude. But remember that this is not for free for after all they did not develop the vaccine without great expense and also the human effort involved,” he said.
The President said that the country will buy these vaccines from Russia and China, but that he would ask the leaders of the two countries for a “credit line” so that the Philippine government could pay in installments, if the vaccines are expensive.
“Bibilhin natin ‘yan. Kaya lang kung mahal, if it is quite expensive then I will ask the — my friend President Putin and President Xi Jinping to give us a credit, parang utang, a credit line but we will pay not in one payment but by installments. Basta ang sinasabi ko magbayad tayo. Hindi ito libre,” he said.
-Vaccine seen as answer to COVID problems-
The Philippine leader noted that at this time of the pandemic all countries are suffering from “economic hemorrhage” as they take a beating from the very infectious virus that has so far infected more than 21.8 million people worldwide as of Tuesday morning, Philippine time.
People in areas under strict quarantine protocols also cannot work, and officials have to balance between reviving the economy amid a continuing crisis, and ensuring that the virus spread is contained.
“At I would always tell them that we are willing and if we are short of money by this time because all of the economy of the world, individual countries, have fallen flat. Lahat ngayon nagkakaroon ng economic hemorrhage. It is uncontrollable because people cannot really work. They cannot be productive. And so you have a problem at hand,” Duterte said.
He stressed how a vaccine is the only answer at this point to address the economic crisis and the danger to public health.
Russia’s President Putin was the first to announce a government-approved vaccine against COVID-19, which scientists called Sputnik V. It is currently undergoing Phase 3 of clinical trials in Russia. The Philippines has also offered to be a site for Phase 3 of these clinical trials from September to March where 1,000 volunteers would be injected with the vaccine, or a placebo of it.
China has also announced several vaccines against COVID-19 in the development and clinical trial phases.
(Eagle News Service)
