DILI, 5 november 2021 (TATOLI) – Timor-Leste’s Medical and Pharmaceutical Supply Agency (SAMES) had distributed 12.673 Pfizer vaccines to vaccination centers (schools) across Dili.
The Executive Director of SAMES, Santana Martins informed that currently there are 87.564 doses of Pfizer vaccines are stored at ultra-cold temperature freezers at SAMES, as 12.673 doses had been administered by the Ministry of Health (MoH).
The Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and can last in a specialty freezer for up to six months.
“The 100.000 doses of Pfizer vaccines from the United States will expire on january 31, 2022, if they are kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius. But, if they are removed from frozen storage then they will last only 31 days,” Martins told TATOLI at his office, in Dili, on friday.
“Therefore, when we receive the request from schools, we shouldn’t deliver the vaccines immediately. We to remove them from the ultra-cold freezers, and keep the vaccines in other storage. And then, the schools can come and take them.
Last week, Timor-Leste kicked off its Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children aged 12 to 17 years, at 30 august Basic School in Dili.
He said since the official launching of the Pfizer vaccination campaign on october 27, at 30 de Agosto Basic School, in Dili, MoH had administered 12.673 doses across several basic and high schools.
On october 18, 2021, Timor-Leste received a total of 100,620 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines donated by the United States.
The vaccines will protect nearly 48.000 children in Timor-Leste against the worst effects of COVID-19.
In Timor-Leste, 74.7 percent of the eligible groups had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which 48.8 percent have been fully vaccinated.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
