President Duterte is expected to call for global solidarity to combat the coronavirus pandemic as well as seek universal access to safe and effective coronavirus vaccines when he attends the United Nations' special session on the pandemic response this week.

The Philippine leader will be among the world leaders who will participate in the virtual UN General Assembly's 31st special session slated on Dec. 3 and 4, Malacañang announced Thursday.

The upcoming UN summit will be held as the pandemic has infected 64 million people, claimed 1.4 million lives, and weakened economies of poor and rich nations across the globe.

"The 31st Special Session of UNGA will be held virtually, with President Duterte expected to deliver the Philippine Statement on 03 December 2020, New York time. The President will further amplify his call for global solidarity in addressing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," a Palace statement said.

"Of particular concern for President Duterte are universal access to anti-COVID19 technologies and products and the need for global efforts to ensure availability of safe and effective vaccines to peoples of developing nations," it said.

The Palace noted that the UN special session recognizes the world body's key role in keeping global order in the face of the global health emergency. The exact time of the President’s address before the United Nations has yet to be disclosed by the Palace.

This will be the President's second appearance before the UN since he assumed office in 2016. His first participation was last September when he asserted the country's claim over the West Philippines and defended his controversial war on drugs before the world body via video conference.

The Palace noted that the President made a similar pitch that all countries must be given access to safe and effective vaccines when he attended the recent UN summit. In his first-ever UN address, Duterte had said when the world finds the vaccine, access to such medicine must not be denied or withheld. He said the vaccines must be "made available to all, rich and poor nations alike, as a matter of policy."

The government had earlier divulged plans to procure coronavirus vaccines for 60 to 70 million Filipinos as soon as the medicines become available in the market. At least P73 billion in funding sources have been identified by the Department of Finance for the vaccine acquisition.

COVID-19 vaccines by March, 2021?

On Thursday, Food and Drug Authority (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo said the country could secure coronavirus vaccines by March, 2021 once the government grants approval of such life-saving drugs for emergency use.

Domingo said the coronavirus vaccines like those developed by Pfizer, Moderna, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and AstraZeneca could apply for emergency use authorization (EUA) in the Philippines after they secure an equivalent EUA from concerned government and health authorities abroad.

The issuance of EUA will hasten the processing period for approving the coronavirus vaccine to 21 to 28 days from six months, according to Domingo.

The health official made the remarks after citing that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) may authorize the emergency use of coronavirus vaccines developed Pfizer and Moderna within one to two weeks.

The United Kingdom has already become the first western nation to grant emergency approval to the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech and will reportedly roll out the first batch of doses next week.