Push Admin

Zuellig Pharma Corporation says it increased cold chain capacity for COVID-19 vaccine

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/02/02/zuellig-pharma.jpg"/><figcaption>Handout photo</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The Zuellig Pharma Corporation on Tuesday said that it was increasing its cold chain capacity to handle more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for the country.“We have ordered 10 additional ultra-low freezers, on top of the 14 already deployed through our network in anticipation of the storage and distribution demands of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines,” said Jannette Jakosalem, Zuellig&#x27;s chief business officer.Government officials earlier inspected cold chain facilities to be used to store COVID-19 vaccines, including those from Zuellig.Distribution of vaccines around the country depends on the cold storage capacity for various COVID-19 vaccines with different temperature requirements.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/20/21/mga-posibleng-cold-chain-facility-para-sa-covid-19-vaccine-ininspeksiyon">Mga posibleng cold chain facility para sa COVID-19 vaccine ininspeksiyon</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/22/21/lgus-private-firms-told-to-follow-govt-standards-on-covid-19-vaccine-storage">LGUs, private firms told to follow gov&#x27;t standards on COVID-19 vaccine storage</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/25/21/pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-may-reach-other-areas-depending-on-storage-facilities-doh">Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine may reach other areas depending on storage facilities - DOH</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/19/21/govt-eyes-28-firms-for-storage-of-covid-19-vaccines">Gov&#x27;t eyes 28 firms for storage of COVID-19 vaccines </a></li></ul>Zuellig Pharma&#x27;s chief executive and area director Maikel Kuijpers said the company would continue to work with the government to address the COVID-19 crisis.“Zuellig Pharma has played an active role during the pandemic by undertaking urgent deliveries of influenza (flu) vaccines as well as conducting mass flu vaccination exercises. We are honored and excited to engage with the Philippine government to explore ways in which we can support measures to address this current crisis and help execute the national COVID-19 vaccination program,” Kuijpers said.“Over our long history of supplying health care products during crises such as world wars, economic crises or natural disasters, we have learned best practices that we believe are applicable to the current COVID-19 pandemic, which I hope we can share,” he added.The company&#x27;s nationwide cold rooms, with temperatures of 2° to 8° Celsius, are located across various warehouses in Santa Rosa, Laguna, Sun Valley in Parañaque, Cebu and Davao, and can store up to 629 million vaccine doses, it said.It also has walk-in freezers that can store up to 52 million doses at -15° to -25° Celsius. They are also increasing its ultra-cold freezer capacity to 24 freezers that can store over 7 million doses at temperatures of as low as -70° to -80° Celsius, and can further ramp up this capacity if needed.Kuijpers noted about its COVID-19 digital care platform, eZVax, developed in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, could serve as a centralized hub coordinating and linking both stakeholders and processes through the whole mass vaccination program.&quot;eZVax allows checking of eligibility, pre-screening, and scheduling of vaccination of patients including date, time, and location. It has administration support with recording of patient and vaccine details, scheduling of second dose when necessary, and generation of digital health passport or vaccination card. The platform will also generate centralised adverse event reporting,&quot; he said.“Our system features powerful data and analytics tools that allow us to drive efficiencies through the process whilst providing real-time dashboards and status reports.”Delivering an eventual COVID-19 vaccine to billions of people around the world will require a Herculean effort, according to industry insiders, with the biggest challenge posed by the need for cold storage and transport.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/18/20/coronavirus-the-cold-hard-challenge-of-delivering-vaccines">Coronavirus: the cold, hard challenge of delivering vaccines</a></li></ul>

The Zuellig Pharma Corporation on Monday said that it increased its cold chain capacity to handle more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for the country.

The Zuellig Pharma Corporation on Monday said that it increased its cold chain capacity to handle more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for the country.