Duterte-approved Russian Vaccine: A Diplomatic, Scientific Suicide
In what is supposed to be a collaborative medical endeavor to combat COVID-19 by developing a vaccine soon became another front for a new Cold War between scientific powerhouses around the world, with most notably the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Russia leading the race. . . and Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is only fueling this political war by stating that he is willing to become Russia’s guinea pig — and subjects Filipinos to possible harm in the process.
In fact, the COVID-19 vaccine race is a more political subject that Duterte must be careful with dealing, for choosing a COVID-19 vaccine will not only dictate which country the Philippines must deal with, but it also chooses which country the Philippines wants to be influenced by — choose one country, and the Philippines will have to deal with its influence. It is already clear that Duterte wants to ally with Russia and China, which is fine if he wants to follow his own foreign policy. But the uncalled statement of Duterte wanting to become a guinea pig for Russia’s vaccine only sells the country to Russian interference, an ironic side-effect born from the premise of an ‘independent foreign policy,’ when in fact he should be more careful of how he deals with his ‘best friends,’ especially in a matter that involves scientific progress — a type of progress that should not be tainted with politics in the first place.
While it is of national interest that the president secures deals from leading nations in the COVID-19 vaccine race, the president should be aware that the development of a COVID-19 vaccine is a scientific, not a political or militaristic matter, aspects where he is noteworthy of. Thus, he should make his choices with reason and facts, the way a scientist would, and not be blinded by his fanaticism for China and Russia and hatred for Western interference. While it is noteworthy that he has secured a promise from Russia that the country will be given COVID-19 vaccines for its clinical trials, the government should take note its pros and especially cons.
For one, the development of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, as scientific experts around the world have noted, is not particularly trustworthy. The Russian government has been shady in its research, causing experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to ask for copies of the Russian research protocol as only a handful of information from Russian researchers was made available to the public. In any scientific research whose aims is to benefit the common populace, a non-transparent treatment of the scientific progress is already a red flag, a sign that the research is possibly unreliable — and the country cannot afford to have another Dengvaxia for something that it desperately needs to curb COVID-19.
Another thing to note is that Russia is not even leading the COVID-19 vaccine race. Although Russia has announced that the vaccine will be available as early as November, it has yet to undergo efficacy trials in select countries around the world. In fact, most physicians would say that America’s Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the most promising COVID-19 vaccine, followed by Oxford University’s AstraZeneca. It may be of national interest for him to set aside his hatred of Western influence to secure deals with those countries first.
Although it is reassuring that the DOST and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will make sure that the Russian vaccine will undergo regulatory procedures in Philippine soil first, Duterte’s statement of wanting to be experimented on along with a couple of his countrymen should be a subject of worry not only for Filipino medical experts, but the common Filipino populace in general. Even though Duterte has secured a deal from Russia, that still does not answer the question of whether the vaccine is effective. Even the research process that the vaccine went through is unreliable as per health experts.
As such, Duterte should play his diplomacy cards right. If the Russian COVID-19 vaccine is indeed effective, then the government will have pretty much saved the Filipino people from further woes of COVID-19. But the thing is, the Russian vaccine is noted by experts as highly unlikely to be effective due to its shady research process. It will be of national interest for him to again, set aside his adversaries against other countries and secure deals from them, for they have a more reliable research process and more promising vaccines in development.
On the off-chance that he does not want to, however, he could also consider collaborating with more reliable partners like Indonesia, which also has its own ongoing COVID-19 vaccine development program. He could secure a research pact between the two countries so that both Indonesian and Filipino scientists could benefit from the COVID-19 research, while also playing his diplomatic cards right and staying true to the premise of an ‘independent foreign policy.’
This way, the Philippines could avoid the political side-effects of participating in the COVID-19 vaccine race as a stakeholder, while also acknowledging that the development of a vaccine should be a collaborative effort between nations untainted by politics. This way, the Filipino people could have it much safer than the president himself, who stated that he wants to be experimented on by the Russian vaccine. In a matter where peoples’ lives are at stake, no country should rush the scientific method or rush to ally with a great power, which is a diplomatic suicide.
REFERENCES:
https://www.sciencemag.org/.../russia-s-approval-covid-19...
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/.../russian-covid-19...
https://pcoo.gov.ph/.../president-duterte-thanks-russia.../
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/.../philippines-duterte...
https://www.mmm-online.com/.../study-doctors-see-moderna.../
https://arstechnica.com/.../meet-the-4-frontrunners-in.../
https://www.bloomberg.com/.../2020-coronavirus-drug.../
https://rappler.com/.../indonesia-developing-own...
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/.../ph-will-continue...
