Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Is Ready To Become A Guinea Pig For The COVID-19 Vaccine Made In Russia

President Rodrigo Duterte (Source: https://pcoo.gov.ph)

JAKARTA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is preparing to become the first Filipino to try a Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine. This was revealed by Duterte in line with great confidence in the study conducted by Russia to break the chain of spread of the corona virus.

"I will tell President (Vladimir) Putin that I have great confidence in the Russian study of fighting COVID-19. I believe that 'the vaccine that you produce is very good for humanity,'" Duterte said.

Not only that. To dispel public fears of rumors about the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, Duterte then volunteered to be a guinea pig when the vaccine arrived. "I can be the first person for them to experiment."

It is so serious that the Philippine government is even ready to cooperate with Russia, be it trials, supply, and production. This effort is a form of the Philippines' seriousness in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier, in July, Duterte had submitted a request to his Chinese counterpart to make the Philippines a top priority in vaccine development. The request was made amid fears of the increasing number of COVID-19 transmission.

If you look back, the Philippines' efforts to fight COVID-19 have started since early March. The increasing number of infections has forced the Philippines to impose lockdowns around the capital of the Philippines, Manila.

Supposing the transmission rate had increased, Duterte promised last Monday he would mobilize the military to enforce the lockdown. Even though his plan to involve the military was opposed by many parties, including human rights groups (HAM).

So far the Philippines has confirmed 136,638 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 2,294 deaths.