Duterte volunteers to be Putin's COVID-19 vaccine guinea pig
August 11, 2020
Rodrigo Duterte has praised Russia's efforts to develop a "free" COVID-19 vaccine for the Philippines. To alleviate fears, Duterte said he will offer to be "the first they can experiment on" in a public vaccination.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed he has accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to provide a Russian COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available and said he is willing to participate in trials.
"When the vaccine arrives, I will inject it publicly. Experiment with me, that's fine. If it works on me, it will work on everyone," the Philippines leader said in a televised speech late on Monday.
Duterte's office on Tuesday said the Philippines is ready to collaborate with Moscow on vaccine trials, supply and production.
"The Philippines stands ready to work with Russia on clinical trials, vaccine supply and production, and other areas deemed practicable by relevant Philippine and Russian agencies to address this global health emergency," a government statement said.
"I will tell President Putin that I have huge trust in your studies in combating COVID and I believe that the vaccine that you have produced is really good for humanity," Duterte said.
To reassure the Filipino public, Duterte said: "I can be the first they can experiment on."
Researchers and their self-experiments
What do a doctor who swallows his own vaccination against the coronavirus, a psychoanalyst on coke and the fastest man in the world have in common? Answer: They are scientists — and their own guinea pigs, too.
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An oral vaccination against coronavirus
Courage, curiosity or complete hubris? It's probably a mixture of all these things that causes many scientists to test their own inventions on themselves first. According to the Global Times, a Chinese doctor not only developed an oral vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 but also tried it out himself. So far, he hasn't seen any side effects.
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Laughing-gas party with Humphry
Scientific knowledge and private pleasure can go hand in hand. The British chemist Sir Humphry Davy experimented with nitrous oxide between 1795 and 1798. With the help of his self-experiments, he discovered not only the pain-relieving effect of the gas but also its intoxicating qualities.
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Discoverer of UV radiation
The German physicist Johann Wilhelm Ritter not only discovered ultraviolet radiation in 1801, but also invented the first battery the following year. Ritter was also interested in galvanism — a term applied to muscle contractions caused by electric shocks. The fact that he died at the age of 33 is said to have been due in part to the galvanic self-experiments with which he maltreated his body.
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Freud on cocaine
The Austrian psychologist and doctor Sigmund Freud is known as the founder of psychoanalysis. His methods are still used, discussed and criticized today. Less well known is that Freud researched the effects of cocaine during his time as a doctor at the Vienna General Hospital. Published letters show that Freud himself consumed coke for a long time and in large quantities.
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Death from yellow fever
"I believe that I am on the trail of the true pathogen," wrote the American physician Jesse Lazear on September 8, 1900, in a letter to his wife. Lazear researched malaria and yellow fever. He confirmed that the latter is transmitted by mosquitoes. To study the disease, he intentionally allowed himself to be stung, fell ill and died 17 days after writing the letter. Lazear was only 34 years old.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
The fastest man on earth
John Paul Stapp became known as the "fastest man on earth" because of his research on the effects of acceleration forces on the human body — including his own: He had himself accelerated on a so-called rocket sled up to more than 1,000 kph (621 mph) and decelerated completely in 1.4 seconds. It is the highest acceleration that a human being has ever voluntarily withstood.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/United Archives
Secret heart catheter
Werner Forssmann was already considered a troublemaker during his medical training. The German surgeon was determined to prove that a long, flexible catheter could be inserted safely from the crook of the arm to the heart. Although his superiors had expressly forbidden him to carry out the experiment, in 1929 Forssmann was the first person to try it out — on himself. Secretly, of course.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/United Archives
Nobel Prize winner — posthumously
The Canadian physician Ralph Steinman fell ill with pancreatic cancer and underwent an immunotherapy he developed himself. According to his physician, this therapy was unable to prevent Steinman's death, but — contrary to the prognosis — could possibly have prolonged his life by over four years. Steinman died in 2011, a few days before the Nobel Prize was awarded, which he received posthumously.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Gombert
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The Filipino leader said he is confident of the effectiveness of Russia's vaccine, which he said will be ready by December, when "the Philippines will be free of COVID-19 and will be able to enjoy a peaceful Christmas."
Moscow received regulatory approval from the Russian Health Ministry to register a COVID-19 vaccine, Putin said on Tuesday, adding that Russia it is ready to supply it to the Philippines or team up with a local company to mass produce it.
Duterte suggested that Filipinos could participate in clinical trials but did not specify the laboratory behind it. He also did not give details about how Putin made the offer or the terms of the agreement.
"They want to provide us with the vaccine; they haven't said pay for it. I think President Putin wants to help us for free," he said.
Duterte has not hidden his admiration for the Russian leader in the past, having referred to Putin as his "idol" and "my favorite hero."
The Russian government said that the vaccine developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute is the world's first. An immunization campaign is slated to begin in October.
Duterte also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping promised in July that the Philippines would be one of the first countries to benefit from some of the three most advanced Chinese vaccines in clinical trials.
The Philippines has registered among Asia's highest numbers of coronavirus infections, which rose to 139,538 on Tuesday after reporting 2,987 new cases.
Duterte restored a lockdown in and around the capital, Manila, for an initial two weeks amid a rise in infections during a period when restrictions were relaxed.
If the situation becomes a "runaway contagion," Duterte promised on Monday to mobilize the military to enforce the lockdown.
The Philippines' lockdown has been among the world's strictest. Rights groups have expressed concern about Duterte's approach and police conduct in enforcing COVID-19 measures.
