Cambodia asks Russia to supply its COVID-19 vaccine
Bangkok, Sep 25 (efe-epa).- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has asked Russia to supply his country with the vaccine against COVID-19 that Moscow hopes to have ready by October or November, before those developed by China, the United States or Europe.
This was communicated by Hun Sen to the new Russian ambassador in Phnom Penh, Anatoly Borovik, in a meeting on Thursday in which he also congratulated the Russian government on the progress of its vaccine, according to the official Facebook page of the Cambodian president.
With 275 cases and no deaths detected, the Cambodian authorities are keeping the pandemic under control, but its economy, mainly the textile and tourism sectors, have suffered a severe setback due to the fall in exports and the arrival of travelers.
On Sep. 14, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will give priority to vaccines against COVID-19 developed by Russia or China, his geopolitical allies, instead of those of Western pharmaceutical companies, whom he accused of “only looking for profit in the middle of the pandemic.”
Russia has been the first country to announce the registration of a vaccine, called Sputnik V, although it has done so to the skepticism of the world scientific community and many countries for not having made public the details of the clinical tests to verify its effectiveness.
However, in early August the British medical journal “The Lancet” published a study indicating that preliminary results of clinical trials of the vaccine had not yielded adverse effects, in addition to highlighting that Sputnik V generated antibodies against the coronavirus.
Russia is recruiting 40,000 volunteers for the third phase of clinical analysis of Sputnik V, the results of which will be known in October-November, after which the Russian vaccine would be supplied to the local and foreign population.
The Russian government said it would be able to vaccinate between 70 and 80 percent of its population in a period of 9 to 12 months and that it has signed agreements with some thirty countries for its supply abroad. EFE-EPA
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