Ambassador Marat Pavlov of Russia.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City has been promised more doses of the Russian vaccine, Gamalea Sputnik V, by the Ambassador of Russia to the Philippines.
This after the city has already been allocated 300 doses of the vaccines, getting a positive response from the Cebuanos as many of those randomly selected to get the Sputnik vaccines eagerly agreed to be inoculated.
Ambassador Marat Pavlov said more doses of the Sputnik vaccines will be delivered to the country this month. He added that Cebu can expect additional doses as well.
He said Russia is willing to help the Philippines during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, especially with the good relationship and “friendship” between the two countries.
“We want to help the Filipino people to be safe,” said the ambassador.
This year, the Philippines and Russia celebrate 45 years of diplomatic relations, and the vaccines are seen as a gesture and symbol for this decades-long diplomacy.
Ambassador Pavlov said that based on recent studies, the efficacy rate of Sputnik is at 80 percent for the first dose and 97 percent for the second dose.
He assured the Filipinos who have chosen to accept the Sputnik vaccines will be protected from the COVID-19 with an efficacy rate that is considered one of the highest in the world.
Honorary Consul Armi Lopez Garcia of the Consulate of Russia in Cebu said that Cebu should expect additional doses of the Sputnik soon as more doses will also arrive in the country.
“I cannot just express how happy I was when I was informed that the vaccines finally arrived for our Cebuanos,” she said.
The Sputnik vaccines are currently being distributed to randomly selected individuals in Cebu City and their second dose is safely stored in a Department of Health (DOH) facility.
The 300 doses are expected to be fully distributed on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
/bmjo
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