COVID-19 vaccine shipment delayed

The expected arrival today of the COVID-19 vaccine has been moved to another date, and Warren Villagomez, head of the COVID-19 Task Force, assured that the delay is not on the CNMI’s side.

Wire news state that the vaccine maker, Pfizer, has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, for its COVID-19 vaccine, which it jointly developed with BioNTech.

Speaking at the regular radio news briefing last Friday, Villagomez assured that the CNMI is “opted in” and will receive the first allocation once the FDA gives the vaccine the required EUA. Villagomez stated that there is no new date yet as to when the CNMI will receive the vaccines but “we will remain on standby.”

With the delayed shipment of the vaccines, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres believes this will give the CNMI more time to be even more prepared once the vaccines come in.

When it comes to storage, Pfizer stated that their vaccine has to be kept at a -70ºC. Villagomez stated that they are coordinating the procurement of a storage unit, which is in the final stage right now. The equipment has already been reserved, and is expected to arrive in the CNMI on time and be ready for the vaccines to be stored.

Good news for Rota and Tinian; they won’t have to fly to Saipan to get the vaccine. Villagomez stated that the storage unit will also be sent to Rota and Tinian.

Speaking at the same radio briefing, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Esther Muña stated that they do have the capacity to store the vaccines now but, again, the amount of vaccines that the CNMI will get has not been confirmed.

“There’re numbers that have been floating around but, at the end of the day, it’s what’s actually sent over here to the CNMI,” said Muña. If they need additional space, she said they will definitely need the support of the CNMI government to add more storage space.

When asked if he will be one of the first to receive the vaccine as a means to reassure the community that the vaccine is safe, Torres stated that he and his family would “be happy to take it.” The first people who are expected to be inoculated with the vaccine are doctors, nurses, and other first responders.

“If I was offered, with the family, I would like to take that and showcase to our community that it is safe. …The risk we are taking to take the vaccine is a lot better than waiting and worrying about being infected with COVID-19,” stated Torres.

According to Muña, CHCC’s main goal is to be transparent with the community. They are hoping to get data within the next few days that show the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. She added that there will be a survey for the community on how CHCC can address concerns and how they can gain the trust of the community.