Duterte: Ensure LGUs have cold storage facilities before giving them vaccines

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is already preparing the soldiers to help with the vaccination, especially as more vaccines are expected to arrive in the country in the coming months.

“In anticipation to the arrival of huge volume of vaccines, I have alerted the military hospitals all over the country — ito po ‘yong mga ospital ng mga Philippine Army all over the country — to assist the LGUs in the vaccination program,” said Lorenzana.

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For this reason, President Rodrigo Duterte reminded local governments that if they want to receive COVID-19 vaccines immediately, they must have adequate cold storage facilities for them.

“Ang problema kasi ganito, you must have the refrigeration. Or if you do not have one, tell us in advance so that hindi kami magkamali magdala tapos you do not have the equipment to keep the temperature desired for vaccines,” said Duterte.

“Masasayang lang and it will go to waste ‘pag magpadala kami doon wala kayong refrigeration o something akin to it that would ensure the integrity of the vaccine.”

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Duterte: Ensure LGUs have cold storage facilities before giving them vaccines

Meanwhile, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. reported that in June alone, the country received more than 9 million doses of the vaccine against COVID-19, bringing the total to 17.4 million doses in the Philippines.

“Ang ating National Vaccination Operation Center kasama po ang ating mga LGU sa pamumuno po ni Secretary Vince Dizon will endeavor to achieve 8 (million) to 10 million doses to be administered for July, the global supply permitting,” said Galvez.

“Iyon po ang target po natin ngayon na makapagbakuna po tayo ng more or less 2 milyon kada week po kasi nakuha po natin 1.6 million kada buwan.”

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This July, another 5.5 million doses of Sinovac, 1.17 million doses of AstraZeneca, 250,000 additional doses of Moderna, 500,000 Pfizer vaccines, and 2 million to 4 million doses of vaccines from the COVAX facility are expected to arrive.

Donations from the United States of 800,000 to 1 million doses are also expected to be Johnson & Johnson’s brand.

When it comes to vaccine distribution, the National Capital Region still receives the most, but other areas with high COVID-19 cases will also increase their supply.

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