Offering a glimpse of hope amid the pandemic, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the designated vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, expressed optimism Wednesday on the discovery and availability of a possible cure against the viral disease that has taken the world by surprise.

However, Galvez said that while the potential vaccine is just around the corner, Filipinos should still observe the minimum health standards to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

"Sa ngayon nakita natin malaki ang prospects natin na talagang magkakaroon na tayo ng vaccine pero sinasabi natin na habang wala pa ang vaccine ay patuloy pa rin natin na (sundin) ang minimum health standard, social distancing at pagwear ng mask, at pag-iwas sa matataong lugar (Right now, we have very high prospects that we will really have a vaccine but while it isn't here yet, we should still the minum health standard, social distancing, wearing of mask, and avoiding crowded areas)," he said in a virtual media forum.

Recently, Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical giant, announced that the vaccine that it is currently developing in partnership with BioNTech, a German biotechnology company, yielded more than 90 percent efficiency in preventing COVID-19 among its volunteers.

But Galvez said that the government is currently prioritizing the candidate vaccines being offered in the Covax Facility, where a solidarity trial participated in by hundreds of countries and initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) is currently happening.

"Sa Covax mayroon na po tayong tinatawag na 20 percent guaranteed access. Meaning, more or less 25 to 20 million Filipinos can access equitably doon sa Covax," he said.

Galvez noted that bilateral and multilateral engagements with other countries are being done so that the Philippines' access to the Covax Facility can be increased to enable the inoculation of 25 to 30 million Filipinos.

Earlier, Galvez said that the "best case scenario" for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines is that it could take place in the second quarter of 2021.

Priority

Meanwhile, Galvez turned to the directive of President Duterte back in September to prioritize the vaccines being developed by China and Russia. 

Department of Health spokesperson Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire has said that the country is already in "advanced talks" with China and Russia to secure a supply of the vaccines that they are developing, which are Sinovac and Gamaleya respectively.

The vaccine czar met with the ambassador of China on Wednesday to discuss the development of its clinical trials in the Philippines for the Sinovac vaccine.

"We are very thankful that they have committed na bibigyan tayo ng access. The prime minister of China has given an order that the Philippines will be given a priority access and they will even donate some of the vaccines for us," he said.

China is currently on the Phase 3 clinical trials of its candidate vaccine, Sinovac. 

But its development took a snag when a "serious adverse event" led to the stoppage of its clinical trials in Brazil, foreign news reports said Wednesday. No other information was immediately provided as to what kind of event took place.

"Sa issue ng Brazil, tignan muna natin ang evdence na lumabas. Minsan 'yung mga balita na lumalabas mga kontrobersyal, minsan para magpeak 'yung isang brand or maging maganda 'yung media releases ng ibang brands. Hintayin natin ang comment ng company so our evaluation will be evidence-based," Galvez said.

Brazil's Butantan biomedical institute, however, was quoted as saying that the serious adverse event "was not related to the vaccine trial itself," according to a report from CNN.

Meanwhile, Gamaleya already submitted the results of their Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials to the Department of Health (DOH).

The government is now awaiting for Gamaleya's contract research organization (CRO) which will serve as their partner team in the Philippines before they can conduct their Phase 3 clinical trial, or the vaccination of a large number of people who are conisdered as test subjects, here in the country.

With the government's target of getting vaccine shots for 75 to 80 million Filipinos, Galvez said the COVID-19 vaccination program may last up to three to five years.

"Realistically, you can only vaccinate so much. Ang target natin is 75 to 80 million of our population, then we will do this in three to five years time. Iyon po ang reality," he said.