The RDIF CEO's announcement comes following a statement from the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, that he was counting on Russia sending free COVID-19 vaccines to the country.
"The Philippines is one of Russia's important partner countries in the vaccine against coronavirus, and the RDIF is ready to conduct clinical trials in the Philippines in August," Dmitriev said.
According to CNN Philippines, which broadcast the president’s speech on the latest COVID-19 update in the country, Duterte said that he would soon speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss vaccine distribution and clinical trials in the country.
According to the Philippine newspaper Inquirer, Duterte expressed his readiness to be the first to test a Russian vaccine against COVID-19.
Russia's first COVID-19 vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.
Clinical trials of the vaccine began on 18 June at two institutions — the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital and the Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University — and included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed an immunity. The first group was discharged on 15 July, the second group on 20 July.
Filipino health authorities have registered over 136,000 COVID-19 infections and 2,294 deaths due to the disease. The spread of the pandemic appeared slow at first but has quickly risen in the past week or so, with some 3,000 new cases reported daily.
