ILOILO – The provincial government is eyeing to procure 275,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from Russia-based Gamaleya Research Institute.
“We already sent our letter of intent to Gamaleya,” said Acting Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon.
At the moment, said Mamon, Sputnik V (registered as the Gam-COVID-Vac) “is the only vaccine available” in the market.
The vaccine has also been approved for emergency use in the Philippines.
“Amo man ‘ni ang gina-offer sa aton local government units through the ULAP (Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines) kag may ara naman emergency use authority from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration,” Mamon told Panay News.
As to the allotted budget for the vaccine procurement, the capitol official said they have yet to finalize “because we are still waiting for Gamaleya’s response.”
Once the province may be able to secure the Sputnik V anti-COVID shots, Mamon said it will be used to inoculate Ilonggos included in the vaccination priority list such as senior citizens, persons with co-morbidities and frontliners.
The Sputnik V is a viral two-vector vaccine based on two human adenoviruses – a common cold virus – containing the gene that encodes the full-length spike protein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 to stimulate an immune response. It also comes in two doses to be administered about 21 days apart.
In a study published in February by Gamaleya, the vaccine had a “91.6 percent efficacy without unusual side effects.”
Early this year, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. representing the provincial government signed a tripartite agreement with British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19.
The pact greenlighted by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan secured the province 270,000 doses of AZD1222 Vaccine priced at $1,350,000 or roughly P64.9 million.
Administered by intramuscular injection, AZD1222 uses as a vector a modified chimpanzee adenovirus.
The initial supply of anti-coronavirus shots will be enough to inoculate more or less 135,000 frontliners as the vaccination requires two doses.
The AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to arrive in the second or third quarter of the year./PN
