MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has formed a group that would lead the distribution of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine once it is available in the country.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the IATF-EID, during its meeting last Thursday, created the COVID-19 Immunization Program Management Organizational Structure, which will be led by the Department of Health (DOH).
“The DOH has been directed to immediately convene the Task Group COVID-19 Immunization Management and establish sub-task groups as necessary,” Roque said Friday.
“The creation of a task force is to ensure the successful and efficient deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the target population,” he added.
The United Nations recently noted that there were around 200 vaccine candidates under development. Some of the vaccines are in Phase III clinical trials – the final step before a vaccine is approved.
Roque earlier said that while authorities have secured funds for the COVID-19 vaccine, its importation and storage setup remains a “challenge.”
“The potential coronavirus vaccine should be kept in a cold storage facility, where they would be frozen at around -90 degrees Celsius. The Philippines has only one such facility at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa,” Roque said./PN
