Duterte to LGUs: Be ready to administer vax upon arrival

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has instructed local government units (LGUs) to prepare the facilities needed to immediately administer the vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) upon arrival.

“I am just saying this because I do not want to lose the battle here through negligence,” he stressed in a televised meeting with some Cabinet members Thursday night, May 13, 2021.

He said the infrastructure for the vaccination program has to be ready to ensure that the vaccines do no go to waste.

Vaccines require different storage conditions. As of May 11, the Philippines has received four brands of Covid-19 vaccines, namely, CoronaVac from Sinovac, AstraZeneca-Oxford, Sputnik V from Gamaleya and Pfizer-BioNTech.

Sinovac and AstraZeneca may be stored in regular refrigerators at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius while Sputnik V requires a temperature of -18 degree Celsius. Pfizer vaccines require ultra-low freezers with average temperature of -70 degree Celsius.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed that some of the AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived will expire by June 30, 2021 and the others by July 31, 2021.

“We know that you can do it but see to it that the mechanism, ‘yong infrastructure ninyo sa baba kailangan must be able to come up with the numbers required kasi itong mga bakuna may expiry date. It cannot be effective forever. The efficacy loses in a less period of time than other medications,” Duterte said.

“So kailangan pagdating doon sa inyo mapatakbo na kaagad ninyo ‘yong administrative pati siguro mga local — may mga hospital. Magtulung-tulungan na lang so that we would not waste the vaccines because we were not able to deliver it on time,” he added.

In the same meeting, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said deployment of vaccines is based on economic, social and health risks.

He said among the focus areas are the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.