In a public address, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he is confident about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines developed by China, the Inquirer.net reported on Thursday.

"Those of you are asking me if [this vaccine from] China is safe – well, I can say that China is a modern country, and it has all the wherewithals to make its country, whose integrity is fully protected by its achievements," Duterte was quoted by the Inquirer.net as saying.

Admitting he is waiting for vaccines developed by China or Russia, the president was quoted by the Inquirer.net as saying that "I'd be glad to open up my sleeves because I am confident with their vaccine."

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that COVID-19 vaccines might be available by the end of 2020, contrary to the belief that the vaccine might not be available until mid-2021.

As of now, nine experimental vaccines are in the pipeline of the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX), which is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO. Days ago, China officially joined COVAX vaccine facility, which aims to distribute two billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021.

This is not the first time that Duterte hinted at buying vaccines from either China or Russia.

Correction: An earlier version of this story failed to mention the other organizations behind COVAX.