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MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night criticized pharmaceutical companies in Western countries for requesting prepayment for their COVID-19 vaccines, which have yet to be developed.
“That is a bad thing in western countries. It’s all profit, profit, profit, ”Duterte said.
“That is a bad thing with these western companies. That is why I said that we will give preference to Russia and China, as long as their vaccine is as good as any other on the market, ”he said, speaking in part in Filipino.
Duterte did not specify, however, which companies were requesting advance payment for the coronavirus vaccine.
The president then explained that the procurement law would not allow the government to buy a non-existent product or one that has not yet been produced.
“It’s a very demanding law and you always have to consider, you know, prosecution and going to jail. Why did you pay for something that is not yet available? “Duterte said.
He added: “If the companies are here, or [ther] reps, just go home. If not, I’ll kick you when I see where it is. If I go out to dinner and see you somewhere in the hotels, I’ll kick your ass. Bastusin ko kayo. Go back to your country ”.
The administration previously said it was ready to negotiate with several overseas drug manufacturers for the possible purchase of its COVID-19 vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Philippines plans to conduct Phase 3 of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine clinical trials from October 2020 to March 2021.
The human tests will be funded by the Russian government and will be conducted simultaneously in Manila and Moscow.
Apart from this, the country has also joined COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), an alliance that aims to ensure rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
The Philippines is also part of the World Health Organization Solidarity Trial for different COVID-19 treatments.
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