The Philippine health ministry said on Friday it was due to meet representatives of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and the Russian embassy, as the Southeast Asian country looks to secure a supply of a COVID-19 vaccine. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged that the country, which has reported the region’s highest number of coronavirus cases, would be “back to normal” by December, pinning his hopes on access to affordable vaccines from countries like China and Russia. Officials of the president’s office and ministries of health and foreign affairs would meet with Pfizer on Friday afternoon, then Russian officials later in the day, health undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
