THE country has the cold chain capacity to roll out the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, with 20 per cent of the population expected to be vaccinated by the end of the year, an official says. Unicef cold chain officer Humphrey Lubwama said when choosing a vaccine, it was important to also consider the in-house capacity. Lubwama explained that Pfizer vaccine was supposed to be stored in a certain temperature (minus 40 to minus 60 degrees Celsius). The country does not have the facility for that. “The temperature we can attain is only minus 20,” he said.
“So if we start to procure and install, it will take maybe three years to have the facilities in the country. “But the virus will not wait. “In the case we finish the vaccination and the virus is gone, what are we going to do with the equipment? “That’s one of the reasons we opted for AstraZeneca. “AstraZeneca storage temperature is between 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius which our cold chain supports.” TheNational/PNGEducationNews Next : Three More Health Workers In PNG's Northern Test Positive Comments are closed.
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