The country is equipped with "world-class" cold storage facilities which can accommodate the bulk of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines that will arrive in the coming months.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Action Plan vs. COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, said this Saturday, May 1, as he joined top government officials in welcoming the 15,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.
The initial doses were part of the total 10 million doses of vaccines that were secured by the government from its manufacturer, the Gamaleya Research Institute.
Unlike other vaccine brands that are available in the country, the Sputnik V vaccine is required to be stored in a cold storage facility with a temperature of negative 18 degrees Celsius.
Galvez said the government acquired the services of PharmaServ Express, a third party logistics company, for the storage and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines from the airport to its cold chain facility and to various vaccination centers in the country.
Galvez said PharmaServ Express has the capability to accept vaccines that need different storage temperature requirements, from Sinovac’s positive 2 to 8 degrees to the negative 18 degrees Celsius required for Sputnik V, and even the negative 25 to negative 15 degrees Celsius temperature requirement of Pfizer.
"Iyong ating DOH nagkontrata sila ng third party provider na may capability na negative 70, negative 80, negative 20, negative 18 at saka iyong 2 to 8 (The DOH hired a third party provider which has a capability to at negative 70, negative 80, negative 20, negative 18, and two to eight )," Galvez said.
“So kayang-kaya po natin iyan. Huwag kayong mabahala. Well prepared ang ating supply chain (So we can do it . Do not worry. Our supply chain is well prepared)," he added.
The Department of Health also has an end-to-end contract with Moderna, Novovax, and Pfizer for the storage of its COVID-19 vaccines, Galvez said.
According to DOH Supply Chain Management Service Director Ariel Valencia, all the Russian vaccines would be brought to PharmaServ Express’ facility in San Roque, Marikina City.
PharmaServ Express said it can distribute the Sputnik V vaccines to the intended vaccination sites in two to four days.