Gov't tapping at least 28 firms for COVID-19 vaccine storage -Dizon

The government has touched base with at least 28 companies with cold chain facilities for storing COVID-19 vaccines, Deputy Chief Implementer and testing czar Vince Dizon of the National Task Force said Tuesday.

Dizon said the 28 private companies have pharmaceutical grade cold chain facilities needed to preserve the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Nasa very advanced stage na po ang ating negotiations [with these companies] kaya makakapag-inspect na po ang ating vaccine czar (Carlito Galvez, Jr.), ang ating Secretary of Health (Francisco Duque III) at iba pong miyembro ng Task Force simula bukas,” Dizon added.

Included in this list of private companies are: Orca, Royal Cargo, Maersk Shipping, Zuellig Pharma, SMX Convention Center, Cebu Pacific, among others.

“Nakikipag-coordinate [rin] tayo sa [pharmaceutical companies na] Unilab, Zuellig para sa tamang pag-transport at paghandle ng mga bakuna,” Dizon said.

“Nagkaroon [na rin] tayo ng meeting with LGUs, private sector…sila ay naghahanda [na] na paano ipepreserve ang mga bakuna,” vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. added.

Dizon added that aside from the private sector, the government will also talk to various organizations such as the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines to ensure that COVID-19 vaccine storage will also be available in rural areas.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said that the deployment of vaccines requiring ultra low cold storage of -20 to -80 degrees Celsius such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will be limited to highly-urbanized areas such as Metro Manila, cities of Cebu and Davao, some parts of Central Luzon and Calabarzon since these are the only areas equipped with ultra low cold storage facilities.

Galvez earlier said that the country will be securing 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from seven vaccine makers so far including Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, Novovax, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya and Bharat BioTech.

Only Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has secured an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration so far after the FDA found it 95% and 92% effective on study population and among all races, respectively—a requirement before a vaccine can be administered in the country.

Galvez said that 70 million Filipinos will get a COVID-19 vaccine within the year in a best case scenario. -MDM, GMA News