President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has formally appointed National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. as Vaccine Czar. His primary responsibility is to purchase, negotiate and distribute vaccines against Covid-19.
The President believes that the purchase of vaccines will be facilitated by next year with this “one line of authority coming from dito sa (here in) Project Task Force sa pagbili ng bakuna (in buying the vaccine), negotiation, manufacture… production or distribution.”
For his part, Sec. Galvez graciously accepted the new task and came up with a National Vaccine Roadmap which is expected to be approved by the Chief Executive on Thursday. This contains the major stages to be undertaken for the vaccine program from the scientific evaluation and selection to the distribution and deployment.
In the initial phase of the plan, the vaccine is expected to be purchased and distributed by the year 2021 to 2022.
Galvez also addressed critics who raised the absence of a medical background in his credentials.
“Iyong pagiging military chief ko, mas madali po iyong coordination sa PNP at AFP. Nasabi na po ni Presidente na gagamitin po natin iyong ibang mga kampo at tsaka yung ibang mga warehouses ng Armed Forces for the storage saka ng distribution ng ating mga vaccine (As a former military chief, coordination will be easier with the PNP and AFP. The President has earlier directed that the camps and warehouses of the Armed Forces will be tapped for the storage and distribution of the vaccines)”
The Vaccine Czar has also been getting in touch with the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), University of the Philippines and National Institutes of Health (NIH) especially in the first stage of the scientific assessment of the vaccine.
He sees the vaccine distribution as a great challenge given the sensitive handling. These must be placed in cold storage or refrigerated. Once the vaccine is removed from cold storage, its effectiveness will diminish and may prove to be fatal to patients.
Storage facilities are now being prepared even before the acquisition of the vaccines. – Report by Naomi Tiburcio
