Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 28) – President Rodrigo Duterte ordered on Monday the use of all government air and sea assets in the storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are using all assets of government, be it plane, boat or anong klaseng barko, para mahatid lang sa far-flung places ‘yung bakuna [or any kind of ship, which will be used to transport vaccines to far-flung places],” Duterte said during his weekly briefing.
Duterte appealed to local government units to let national government officials know in advance if they have adequate vaccine storage capacity so that the vaccines transported by military ships or planes would not go to waste.
“It will go to waste kung magdala kami doon na wala kayong [if we bring vaccines but you don’t have] refrigeration or something akin to it that would ensure the integrity of the vaccine,” said Duterte. “The military assures us that they will take care of the delivery for as long as you have the refrigeration or equipment necessary to preserve the efficacy of the medicine.”
The President made the remark after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana presented to him the 20 Philippine Army hospitals, eight Philippine Air Force hospitals, nine Philippine Navy hospitals, and 11 Unified Area Command hospitals that will aid local government units in the national vaccination program.
“In anticipation of the arrival of huge volumes of vaccines, I have alerted the military hospitals all over the country to assist the LGUs (local government units) in the vaccination program,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana added that 11 military ships have “refrigeration capacity” to store vaccines, which will be useful in distributing the doses in remote islands of the country.
The country’s defense chief said military airplanes are also ready to transport vaccines to distant areas.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said the Philippines breached the 10-million mark in its vaccination program last June 26.
