Metro Manila (CNN Philippines February 5) — The Department of Health said the awarding for the procurement of a COVID-19 vaccine cold chain service provider may be completed before the end of February.
“Before the end of this month, maybe the award will be processed,” DOH Undersecretary Carol Taiño said in a briefing on Friday.
Invitations were already sent out to several companies and the deadline for the submission of requirements is on February 11, she added.
These will then go through the process of evaluation to determine which service provider is fit for the government’s vaccine storage requirements.
The country is expected to receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and another 50,000 doses of China’s Sinovac this month.
Taiño said the government has existing contracts with other third-party logistics and facilities where these can be stored while they are completing their evaluation.
Prior to the briefing, government officials led by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. inspected the facilities of Royal Cargo Inc.
“We feel that it can significantly help us in our logistics requirement,” Duque said when asked about his initial assessment of the company’s facilities.
Royal Cargo Inc. chair and group CEO Michael Raeuber said their facility has an initial capacity of 1 million doses but may later expand to around 4-8 million. This can also handle the different requirements of different vaccines, including Pfizer and Moderna that require extremely low temperatures.
Royal Cargo Inc. President Elmer Sarmiento also said their container vans can be used for transportation of vaccines, and for storage in areas where there is no electricity.
Galvez Jr. said in January the government is negotiating with 18 companies to ensure proper storage and transportation, and that no vaccine will be wasted.
