PH Red Cross to help gov’t in COVID-19 vaccination, says Gordon

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is preparing to help the government in its program to vaccinate Filipinos against COVID-19.

This was revealed Wednesday by Senator Richard Gordon, who also serves as chair of the humanitarian organization, adding that PRC is already in talks with the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) for the undertaking once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in the Philippines.

“Ang isang ginagawa na namin nagka-canvass na kami, dahil IFRC and the Philippine Red Cross, we are talking na we may have to do the vaccination ourselves to help the government,” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

(We are already canvassing because IFRC and PRC are in talks on possibly conducting the vaccination ourselves to help the government.)

“You know you’re gonna have to buy a -80 degree freezer. Pinaghahandaan namin ‘yan. Naghahanap na ako ng pera dyan (We are already preparing for that. I am now trying to look for funds),” he added.

Gordon also said he agrees with the government’s plan to prioritize healthcare workers, uniformed personnel, and the poor in its COVID-19 inoculation program.

Earlier, US biotech company Moderna announced that its experimental vaccine against COVID-19 was found 94.5 percent effective based on early results from a clinical trial with more than 30,000 participants.

Before this, Pfizer and BioNTech also said the vaccine it jointly developed was 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in Phase 3 trials.

KGA