TEGUCIGALPA.
With the announcement that Pan American Health Organization (OPS) is in talks with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Modern to counter your vaccines covid-19 for Latin America, through the Covax mechanism, there is hope to have vaccines in the region in less time.
However, Honduras is part of the mechanism Covax, you may be excluded from receiving any vaccine due to the cold chain required for their storage and transport.
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keys 1- The Social Security Institute of Honduras has signed a contract with AstraZeneca for the purchase of 1.4 million doses of its vaccines. |
vaccine of Pfizer which has already been approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and already applied in several countries, requires a temperature of -70 degrees Celsius for storage; while that of Modern which could be approved in the next few days, should be refrigerated at -20 degrees.
The Ministry of Health has only a refrigeration system between -2 and -8 degrees Celsius, and the authorities have established that it is not possible to invest in a cold chain to purchase these vaccines, as it would delay the introduction of another vaccine to the country, so “it was decided that the vaccines that the country will purchase are those that will require refrigeration, not ultra-cold or frozen, but one that we can preserve and refrigerate,” he said. THE PRESS the director of Comprehensive immunization program (FATHER), Ida Berenice Molina.
By mechanism Covax, honduras will receive vaccine doses for 1.9 million Hondurans; while through the rotating bottom of the OPS a similar amount will be bought, authorities have determined Health. But according to storage guidelines, the country could only get vaccines that fall within the refrigeration limits, such as the vaccine from AstraZeneca, which has not been approved, and the Russian vaccine called Sputnik V, which are the ones that have a greater lead in their research.
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“The vaccine the country is considering is one that needs refrigeration”: Ida Berenice Molina, |
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Experts consulted by THE PRESS indicated that the lack of vaccine storage logistics is a limitation to having them in less time, as vaccines that adapt to the country’s conditions should be expected to be approved.
investigator Marco Tulio Medina He said authorities should consider a number of possible vaccines. “My proposal is that we need to be more comprehensive about the vaccines we can access and support. Covax it can be crucial, “he said.
He said that government could purchase cold chain equipment that these vaccines require, as well as other countries in Romania Latin America. He added that there are many laboratories in the country that have these cold chains.
geneticist Edwin herrera agrees that there are several companies or laboratories that have cold rooms with -70 degrees Celsius, so the Government could purchase these vaccines without the need to implement a cold chain, but rather by outsourcing companies that have rooms refrigerators for storage. Herrera explained that the Pfizer vaccine could be applied in the main cities of the country, where there are cold rooms with this temperature; but its transport to the interior would be complicated, so for the country the vaccine against Modern which is stored at -20 degrees.
On November 12, Unicef and OPS announced the call for tenders and invited all manufacturers of vaccines against covid-19 expect to have supplies available from vaccine by the end of 2021 to submit your proposals.
The bidding period was six weeks, so it ends on December 23 and the companies with which they will purchase vaccines against the disease will be announced.
By mechanism Covax, OPS and Unicef hopes to provide at least two billion doses of vaccines to its more than 186 countries.