( MANILA BULLETIN)
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. recently announced that initial doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to be delivered in mid-February through the COVAX facility. The government is aiming to inoculate 70 million Filipinos by the end of this year.
As the public anticipates this vital initiative of the government against the pandemic, the question in mind would be:
Vaccine storage and distribution
There are two strategies to store COVID-19 vaccines as these require specific storage requirements, said Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
Vergeire said for vaccines requiring 2 to 8 degree Celsius and -20 degrees Celsius temperature, the supplier will deliver the vaccines to the DOH rented private warehouse or to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), “which will serve as the government’s centralized vaccine hub.”
endIndex:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 20) The Philippines is set to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the first quarter of 2021 after the approval of its participation in the global COVAX facility, the Department of Health announced on Wednesday.
The facility is an initiative by the World Health Organization, along with the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. It seeks to provide over 150 participating countries equitable access to coronavirus vaccines.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. previously appealed to COVAX to include the Philippines among countries to be given early access to vaccine doses. With this latest development, the country could receive vaccines from US firm Pfizer as early as February.
The country is set to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility within the first quarter of this year, government officials said on Wednesday night.
This was announced by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. in a joint statement.