The national government will conduct a dry run for the "mini roll-out" of Russia's "Sputnik V" coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine this month, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said Sunday night, April 11.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar, said an initial 20,000 doses of Sputnik V will be delivered to the country for its mini roll-out. The dry run will help medical frontliners to identify how to properly store, handle, and administer the Russian vaccine.
"Mayroon tayong mini-rollout for 20,000 doses of Sputnik V kasi ito talaga medyo sensitive ang logistics because it will be in ampoules and not vials (We have a mini roll-out for 20,000 doses of Sputnik V since its logistics is really sensitive because it will be stored in ampoules and not vials)," he said.
Galvez, however, did not disclose the exact date when the delivery or the rollout of the Sputnik V vaccines will take place.
Manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik V is administered in two doses with each dose given 21 days apart, according to the NTF and the Department of Health (DOH).
The NTF said the first dose contains "Adenovirus-26" particles while the second dose has "Adenovirus-5" particles. These particles are what causes common cold to humans, according to health experts.
The Adenoviruses contain genes that encode full-length spike protein of the Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which stimulates a human's immune response.
Sputnik V is 91.6 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infection and 100 percent effective against moderate or severe cases after 21 days of receiving the first dose, the DOH said, citing results of international clinical trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
On March 19, the FDA announced that it has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Sputnik V, the fourth vaccine to be given such authorization after US' Pfizer, British-Swedish AstraZeneca, and China's CoronaVac manufactured by Sinovac Biotech.
Prior to the Philippines' issuance of an EUA, Sputnik V has already secured an EUA in 51 countries including Russia, Argentina, Bahrain, Belarus, and Hungary, the DOH said.
Sputnik V needs a special containment as it requires to be stored in -18 degrees Celsius and below refrigeration, the DOH noted.
This month, the national government is expecting the delivery of two million vaccine doses including 500,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines. Galvez previously said that the NTF has asked Russia to supply three million doses of their vaccines to the country.