The Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, reported that the government has signed an agreement with the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech, thus providing 7.9 million doses of BNT162b2 vaccine against Covid-19.
The agreement was signed on behalf of the Dominican Republic by the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Plutarco Arias.
Raquel Peña said that this agreement between Pfizer and BioNTech and the Dominican government “brings us closer to the goal of ensuring that the Dominican people have safe access to the vaccine, as promised by President Abinader in his inaugural address.” ”
The agreed doses will be provided to the country during 2021, starting with the second quarter of this year, once the BNT162b2 vaccine receives the transitional permit from the General Directorate of Medicines, Food and Health Products (Digemaps) and its acquisition is approved by the National Congress .
According to the full final results of the large-scale clinical trial announced by Pfizer and BioNTech, the vaccine they developed together is 95% effective in preventing Covid-19.
About storage temperatures
Depending on the pharmaceutical company, the type of vaccine and the techniques used to develop it, the doses of Covid-19 vaccines should be kept at temperatures between -80 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius; especially the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech requires temperatures between -80 and -70 degrees Celsius for its preservation.
To date, the Essential Medicines and Central Logistics Support Program (Promise / Cal) has identified eight freezers suitable for storing BNT162b2 vaccines, with the capacity to collect up to 400 thousand doses; while continuing to conduct surveys and hold talks with other potential allies to bring storage capacity to 1 million doses.