Vaccine simulation went faster than expected, says Galvez

The simulation exercise held on Tuesday in preparation for the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines this month went faster than expected, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

The government allotted 120 minutes for the portion of the simulation that included the transfer of “vaccines” from the airport to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) but Galvez said it was completed in only 50 minutes.

“Maganda ‘yung execution, ibig sabihin natin ‘yung lahat ng mga parts, ‘yung mga driver, ‘yung mga operator and even ‘yung mga utility, they precisely [did] their part,” he said in a briefing after the simulation exercise.

“So far, so good… We were able to do it much faster than what was planned,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III added.

Galvez stressed that there is “no room for error” in the rollout of vaccines, especially since the Pfizer-BioNTech doses expected to arrive soon are “very delicate.”

“The more na matagal ang vaccine outside of the warehouse, malaki ang possibility na magkaroon tayo ng spoilage… Mas maganda na mas mapaliit pa natin ‘yung time,” he said.

The simulation was overseen by members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the National Task Force Against COVID-19, as well as the Philippine National Police.

The exercises started at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport where the “vaccines” were unloaded and underwent Customs clearance. The “vaccines” were then transported to the RITM for inspection.

After the inspection at the RITM, the “vaccines” will be transported to healthcare facilities.

The hospitals that will receive the first batch of vaccines are spread out across Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the simulation was done to avoid vaccine wastage.

“Along all of these processes, we monitor the temperature of the vaccines so that we can see what would be the changes in the temperature in all of these processes so that we can address gaps, if ever, so that we don’t have wastage of these vaccines,” she told CNN Philippines.

The Philippines will receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, enough for 58,500 health workers.

Duque said excess doses will be given to health workers in the military and police.  —KBK/RSJ, GMA News