Government in talks with more than 30 firms for storage of COVID-19 vaccines
MANILA, Philippines — The government is coordinating with more than 30 logistics companies as it prepares for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines it ordered from various drug makers, an official said Tuesday.
National Task Force against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said the government has spoken to 28 third-party logistics firms and is talking to five others to ensure that there would be cold storage facilities for the vaccines.
"We need very special facilities for the vaccines to be delivered. This is what they call pharma-grade cold chain facilities or pharma-grade cold storage facilities. These more than 30 companies are the biggest and they have this capacity," Dizon said at a press briefing.
The 28 companies that the government has spoken with are Orca, Royal Cargo, Maersk Shipping, Grepcor Diamonde, Pharmaserv, Vantaztic Inc., LBC Express Inc., Distriphil, Metropac Movers, Royal Cold Storage, Coolaire, Centiforce, M-Fast Logistics, Zuellig, Genson Distribution Inc., SMX Convention Center, Medical Rescue, Dynatronics/Braintech, Cebu Pacific, Skyjet Airlines, 2GO, Smart-Tradzt, Novatus Technologies, IP Biotech Inc., PAL, Sinobest, Frabelle Cold Chain, and Cold Chain Care. The government will also hold talks with DB Schenker, AAI Worldwide Logistics, DHL Global Forwarding, Regulus Global and Air Speed on January 21.
Dizon said the negotiations with the logistics firms are now in the "very advanced" stage.
"But even if we have spoken to more than 30 companies, our vaccine czar (Carlito Galvez, Jr.) and the Department of Health will still talk to different companies and associations like the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, especially for areas that are in the provinces," Dizon said.
Dizon said Galvez, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and other members of the task force would conduct inspections of the storage facilities starting Wednesday, January 20.
"We have coordinated closely with different vaccine companies to determine what should be done to preserve the vaccines once they arrive in the Philippines. Secretary Galvez also coordinated closely with different private sector companies that can handle these kinds of sensitive medicines," he added.
The national government has so far secured two official deals for COVID-19 vaccine supplies in the Philippines, one with Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac and another with the Serum Institute of India.
Watch this space for bite-sized developments on the vaccines in the Philippines. (Main image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
Health Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire says the general population may now get their second booster jab.
"We're just waiting for the release of implementing guidelines, then we'll start rolling out our second booster for the general population," she says. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Amid questions on vaccines being administered, the Department of Health assures the public all doses are safe and effective as the “process of extending shelf life goes through thorough stability studies.”
“The government ensures that every vaccine that is injected with an extended shelf life has gone through studies, and is still safe and effective against COVID-19,” it adds.
Government must increase vaccination capacity across the Philippines in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the corona virus, Sen. Risa Hontiveros says.
She says local government units and the private sector can work together to put up more vaccination centers and deploy more vaccination teams to get more people inoculated against COVID-19.
"The active COVID cases have nearly doubled in three days. The positivity rate is almost four times the ceiling set by the World Health Organization. Huwag na nating hintayin na sobrang lumala pa ang sitwasyon bago tayo gumawa ng paraan para mapabilis ang ating pagbabakuna."
FDA chief Eric Domingo says that its agency has given emergency approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official says Wednesday.
Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients tells reporters.
"The program is just getting up to full strength," he says, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. — AFP
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