Giorgi Gotsadze, President of Curatio declares that COVID-vaccines are very difficult for Georgia logistically, so Georgia should focus on vaccines whose temperature regime is in line with Georgian practice.
“There is a Chinese vaccine that received a license for temporary and emergency use in several countries. For example, several Chinese vaccines have been licensed for use in China and a number of countries in the East. Today, a lot of attention is paid to three vaccines (Pfizer; Moderna; AstraZeneca), but 53 vaccines are in the development phase and the range of vaccines will be rich in January-February.
Pfizer is very complex in content. It should be stored at -70, -80 degrees. Its logistical requirements are of great complexity, and a wealthy country like Canada is using its military as a logistics tool to bring this vaccine to the country and deliver it to the facility. I doubt that Georgia cannot afford such a difficult vaccine.
The second is Moderna, which requires a relatively lower temperature of -20 degrees, but is also difficult. The country's cold chain is set at 2-8 degrees and we should take course to that direction, that is what our specialists can handle. Such vaccines are very large in the pipeline. 85% will be stored at this temperature. Our focus should be made on that, in order to simplify the complex logistics that await us," said Giorgi Gotsadze.
However, the government of Georgia set up a special working group for COVID vaccine on December 2. The working group should prepare the country’s infrastructure and logistics for the vaccine.
