MANILA – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Policy Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. on Wednesday inspected the cold storage facilities of Zuellig Pharma, which is among the private firms that have committed to help in the rollout of the national vaccine program.
During the site visit, Zuellig chief executive officer Maikel Kuijpers expressed the company’s commitment to help the government in the safe, efficient and timely distribution of Covid-19 vaccines nationwide.
“We are increasing our capacity since the start of the pandemic to ensure that we are ready to receive and distribute Covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers and with different storage requirements,” Kuijpers said.
The company’s cold rooms, located in various parts of the country, can hold up to 650 million vaccine doses at any given time.
Meanwhile, Zuellig’s walk-in freezers, with temperatures ranging from -50 to -25 degrees, can store up to 40 million doses.
The pharmaceutical company also has ultralow freezers that are capable of maintaining temperatures of -80 degrees and can hold up to 6.5 million vaccine doses.
Duque, meanwhile, thanked the company for its assistance, noting the importance of the whole-of-society approach in ensuring the success of the inoculation program.
“We are thankful to Zuellig Pharma because, without hesitation, you’ve come forward to respond to the calling of the national government for its demands for an adequate storage capacity ranging from 2 to 8 degrees to -20 to the more sophisticated cold storage temperature requirement of -70 to -80 degrees,” he said.
“You are one of the few companies that have this kind of capacity. That’s why we depend on you for the large part in terms of our wish to really successfully implement our national vaccination roadmap,” he added.
Zuellig Pharma has been a leading player in the supply chain management of numerous vaccines sold in the Philippines and other countries.
The company is also part of the Covid-19 Taskforce T3 (Test, Trace, Treat), representing the private industry, and has assisted the government in crafting the Covid-19 supply chain framework.
The framework aims “to ensure efficient distribution of Covid-19 vaccines while ensuring product quality and longevity of vaccines throughout the process.” (PR)
