Galvez: Sanctions may be imposed over COVID-19 vaccine wastage

Published July 16, 2021 03:22 PM By JULIA MARI ORNEDO, GMA News

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. warned on Friday that sanctions may be imposed over the improper handling of COVID-19 vaccines after a Muntinlupa vaccination site encountered storage facility issues.

In a health department forum, Galvez said local government units that report wastage of a particular vaccine brand will no longer be given a supply of the same brand again.

“Ibig sabihin kasi, ‘yung mga tinatawag nating vaccines na very sensitive na hindi nila kayang i-handle, talagang imi-minimize namin ‘yun sa mga LGU na hindi prepared,” he explained.

(That means that they can’t handle very sensitive vaccines. We want to minimize giving sensitive vaccines to LGUs that are not prepared.)

Galvez also said that concerned local authorities and vaccine safety officers will be held accountable for wastage.

The city government of Muntinlupa earlier suspended vaccinations

at the Festival Mall due to an issue with its storage facility that may have affected the potency of the vaccines.

“Mini-minimize natin talaga ‘yung wastage kasi sa ngayon ang bakuna ay ginto (We are really minimizing wastage because vaccines are as good as gold),” Galvez said.

“[LGUs] have to preserve the efficacy and safety of this vaccine kasi once na ma-compromise ang safety at saka 'yung storage (once the safety and storage are compromised), it will also endanger the health of our people,” he added.

In a separate interview on Super Radyo dzBB, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said representatives from UNICEF and the World Health Organization are reevaluating the affected vaccines from Muntinlupa to see if they are still fit for use.

“Siyempre, gusto natin maisalba pa rin ‘yung bakuna hangga’t sa maaari dahil sayang… pero hindi naman pwede kung ang findings ay negative or hindi pwedeng gamitin. Susunod tayo do’n at bigyan na lang natin sila ng panibagong supply,” he said.

(Of course we want to save the vaccines as much as possible but that can’t be done if the findings are negative. We will follow experts and provide LGUs with a new supply instead.)

The Philippines has so far vaccinated over 10 million people, still far from the government’s target of vaccinating 70 million people to achieve herd immunity.—AOL, GMA News
 

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