Binay: Fast track release of COVID-19 vaccines in gov’t storage facilities

FILE PHOTO: Vials labeled “AstraZeneca, Pfizer – Biontech, Johnson&Johnson, Sputnik V coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine” are seen in this illustration picture taken May 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Nancy Binay urged the Department of Health on Thursday to fast track the release of all COVID-19 vaccines stored in government facilities as some inoculation centers have temporarily stopped vaccine distributions for lack of vaccine supply.

Binay said the closure of some inoculation centers in Metro Manila due to insufficient vaccine supply is “unacceptable,” pointing out that there are vaccine doses available in government facilities.

“Ilarga na’t i-release yung lahat ng vaccines na nasa government storage facilities. Sayang yung panahon kung paghihintayin pa natin ang mga tao hanggang next week. By then, baka tinubuan na ng mga dahon ang bakuna bago makarating sa centers. Clearly, there should be no excuses,” Binay said in a statement.

(Release all vaccines in government storage facilities. Time is wasted if we let the people wait until next week. By then, weeds may have grown from the vaccines before they even reach the centers. Clearly, there should be no excuses.)

“As of this week, marami pang bakunang nakaimbak sa storage facilities ng DOH kaya parang ang hirap tanggapin na walang maibigay sa mga vaccination centers sa Maynila, Marikina at Antipolo. Habang mayroong di nailalabas sa warehouse at nakakarating sa tao ang bakuna, technically, it does not serve its intended purpose. May buhay na nakokompromiso,” the senator added.

(As of this week, there are still many vaccines stored in storage facilities of the DOH so it is hard to accept that we cannot give vaccines to inoculation sites in Manila, Marikina, and Antipolo.)

According to Binay, to date, about 9.3 million vaccines are in stockpile; 8.6 million have been deployed; and more than 6 million have been administered, with still close to a million doses stored in government facilities.

“Meron pang 2 million doses ng Pfizer na darating bukas plus 1 million each ng Sputnik and Sinovac. Sana i-release kaagad at ilabas na ang mga bakuna ng DOH para mapakinabangan ito agad ng ating mga kababayan,” Binay said.

(There are still 2 million doses of Pfizer that will arrive tomorrow and one million doses of Sputnik and Sinovac. I hope the DOH can release them so the public can benefit from it.)

“Dapat nga lahat ng 1st dose vaccines ay nai-release na, at kung meron mang naiwan sa storage, yung mga 2nd dose na lang. Kung nag-decide man ang IATF na buksan na ang A4 category, dapat handa rin ang DOH to cover the necessary requirements tulad ng syringes at iba pang gamit,” the senator added.

(All the first doses should have been released by now, and if there are supplies left in storage facilities, it should be jabs for the second dose only. If the IATF decided to open vaccination for the A4 category, DOH should have been ready to cover necessary requirements.)

Vaccination chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday apologized to local governments and promised that Metro Manila would get its fresh allocation starting June 14 as millions of new doses were expected to arrive this week.

Galvez explained that supply in the National Capital Region (NCR) this week was thin because 80 percent of the one million Sinovac doses shipped early this month went to areas outside the so-called NCR Plus 8, which comprises Metro Manila and eight adjacent or highly urbanized provinces.

/MUF