The start of the PHL vaccination campaign can be moved to May 2021



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POSSIBLE limitations in the vaccine supply chain for Covid-19 will delay the government’s target date next year to launch its vaccination campaign against the pandemic.

In an interview with PTV on Thursday, the main executor of the government’s national policy on Covid-19 and the vaccine czar, Carlito Gálvez, announced that he revised the schedule in his proposed Philippine National Vaccine Roadmap (PNVR). after obtaining the latest information from the Department. of Health (DOH) on the progress of the development of potential Covid-19 vaccines.

Instead of March 2021, the vaccination campaign can take place in May 2021.

“So the best scenario is that clinical trials [for Covid-19 vaccine] within the first trimester [of 2021] and then just in case there will already be a mass production [of the vaccine], We’ll be able [to conduct] by mid-2021, ”said Gálvez.

However, he said they are not ruling out the “worst case scenario,” in which the vaccine for Covid-19 will not be available until the second half of 2021.

Faced with this scenario, the government will have to prolong the application of the minimum health standards and restrictions related to Covid-19.

Distribution strategy

Aside from health officials, Gálvez said he also met with representatives from Zuellig Pharma, Ayala Healthcare and Unilab on Wednesday to find out about the different types of cold chain facilities they will need for their vaccination campaign.

This is in preparation for the “logistics summit,” which it is preparing so that the government can take advantage of the cold chain storage facilities and private sector delivery trucks.

“We will have the logistics summit to be able to solve the complexities of logistics [aspect of their vaccination drive]”Said Gálvez.

Based on their initial conversations with the private sector, Gálvez said they will establish “main storage centers” and “subsidiary facilities” for the effective distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

He said Aboitiz Transport System (ATS) initially offered the government access to its freezing and refrigeration units.

Gálvez previously said that the Covid-19 vaccine must be kept at a constant low temperature to maintain its effectiveness.

Image credits: AP
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