The Department of Health said Friday the government eyes placing at least six cold storage for COVID-19 vaccines and Metro Manila and three nationwide.
“Magkakaroon ng apat ng cold storage rooms and two walk-in freezers sa Metro Manila since Metro Manila will be the central hub of all COVID-19 vaccines,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online forum.
However, Vergeire noted that there would also be cold storage facilities across the country.
“We need to have strategic areas in the country kung saan magkakaroon ng cold chain hubs. Dito muna ibabagsak before it gets distributed to specific health facilities,” she said.
“We are looking at Bicol, Cebu, Zamboanga… tinitignan natin kung saan iyong feasible at mas magiging efficient tayo sa pagbibigay ng bakuna,” Vergeire added.
However, tHowever, the DOH official could not assure if these cold storage facilities are ultra-low freezers, a requirement for vaccines created by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Both of their vaccines are proven to be 95% effective after human trials.
“Nakikipag-usap pa tayo sa private sector on how they can provide assistance on this,” Vergeire said.
“Humahanap pa tayo [ng ultra low storage]. Ang tinitignan pa lang natin ngayon iyong location, kung saan tayo magiging pinaka-efficient kung diyan nakalagay,” she added.
Nine COVID-19 vaccine cold storage hubs eyed – DOH
The Philippine government eyes vaccinating around 25 million Filipinos against COVID-19 next year, National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said.
“Our target this year is 25 million. Based on the availability of the vaccine, we can expand it to 30 to 35 million,” he said in an ANC interview.
Three million of the said figures are health care and other essential workers, Galvez said.
Here are the top 5 priority sectors and the number of populations it will provide per group:
- 1st priority- Frontline health workers (1,762,994)
- 2nd priority- Indigent senior citizens (3,789,874)
- 3rd priority- Remaining senior citizens (5,678,544)
- 4th priority- Remaining indigent population (12,911,193)
- 5th priority- Uniformed personnel (525, 523)
The DOST said the trials’ initial sites would be in high COVID-19 transmissions, such as in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, and Cordillera Administrative Region.