Poor infrastructure and the lack of cold storage facilities in the countryside would slow down the Philippines’ vaccination program, which targets to inoculate the entire population by 2023, the Asian Development Bank said. READ:
A picture shows the logo of the Asian Development Bank displayed outside its headquarters in Manila on September 2, 2010. AFP FILE PHOTO/TED ALJIBE
“Refrigerators in health centers in rural areas are subject to intermittent power supply with no backup power source. Vaccine wastage also occurs owing to a lack of skilled personnel,” it added. In an earlier report, ADB said the Philippines faced constraints in vaccine financing as “the government estimates that P82.5 billion will be required to provide vaccines to approximately 55 percent of the country’s population—still short of its plan to vaccinate all Filipinos by 2023.”