MANILA, Philippines — Marikina City may have been hit by a massive flooding in the last quarter of 2020 but the city government assures enough funding for its COVID-19 response.

In fact, the city already has a cold chain storage facility in time for the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines.

The storage, which can store up to 40,000 vials of vaccines, is fully air-conditioned and equipped with state-of-the-art vaccine refrigerators.

The city government also invested on carriers that will transport the vaccines to the vaccination sites.

The vaccines will be placed inside a specially designed package with a thermometer to ensure proper temperature while in transit. Even the syringes are exact in measurement and can only be used once.

“Ito ay may lock kaya auto disable,” Marikina City’s cold chain manager Lourdeliza de Guzman explained.

According to Mayor Marcy Teodoro, they are negotiating with two companies and the tripartite procurement for the vaccine is already in progress.

They expect the vaccines to arrive in February or within the third quarter of the year.

Also, the city government is also preparing other areas where additional vaccine storages can be established.

“Ine-expand pa rin namin ito para at least makapag hold kami ng up to 100,000 vials ng vaccine. Both 2-8 degrees and sub-zero cold storage ang aming objective,” he added.

Teodoro said Marikina City is targeting to inoculate around 270,000 or about 60 percent of its population.

It has also allotted around P80M budget in addition to the vaccines that the national government will provide.

“Iyong prioritization namin primarily one, health care workers, mga social workers, iyong mga non-medical (workers) iyong mga nasa PNP natin, barangay health workers, iyong essential workers natin na katulong natin,” Teodoro said.

“Pagkatapos (mga) senior citizens, PWD, iyong mga mahihirap, iyong mga nakatira doon sa mga settlement area ng Marikina. Tapos yung mga working population namin,” he added.

Teodoro said they are planning for a mobile vaccination which will make rounds in hospitals, resettlement sites or in other areas where vaccination is needed. MNP (with reports from Rey Pelayo)

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday (January 15) warned against the purchase and use of AiDeLai face masks.

In an advisory dated January 8, the FDA said it cannot guarantee the safety and quality of the popular face mask brand because it has not gone through the agency’s evaluation process.

The regulator also warned establishments not to distribute, advertise, or sell the medical product until Product Notification Certificate is issued.

“Otherwise, regulatory actions and sanctions shall be strictly pursued,” the FDA mentioned.

The agency urges the public to always check certain products on their website www.fda.gov.ph before purchasing. MNP / Raymund David

MANILA, Philippines — The national government is planning to begin the COVID-19 immunization program in February, according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

He said 50,000 of China’s Sinovac vaccines are set to arrive in the country on February 20. An additional 950,000 doses will arrive in March, and two million more in the succeeding months.

Galvez also reported that Pfizer may also provide more or less 25 to 40 million doses once negotiations are finalized. The government is also in the final stages of negotiation with drug maker Johnson & Johnson, the vaccine czar added.

“Kapag nagpirmahan po tayo baka, hopefully, kung mayroon silang excess from US at other countries pwede pong mai-deliver ito sa atin (Once the agreement has been signed hopefully, if there is excess from the United States and other countries, [the vaccines] can be delivered to us),” he told the President during a meeting in Malacañang.

Other vaccine companies that the government is in talks with include American biotechnology company Moderna, and Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute. Gamaleya promised to deliver 50 to 100 million doses to the country.

Meanwhile, local government units have already inked a deal with Astrazeneca for a supply of around 17 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. AAC