QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --Defense chief Secretary Delfin Lorenzana directed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to provide assistance in the delivery and rollout of the vaccines against COVID-19.

During the Monday briefing with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Secretary Lorenzana said that he has alerted all military hospitals in the country to assist local government units (LGUs) in anticipation of the arrival of huge volume of vaccines.

Lorenzana presented to President Duterte and to the members of the cabinet the numbers and location of military treatment facilities nationwide.

The defense chief presented the number of military treatment facilities of the Philippine Army (20 hospitals), Philippine Air Force (8 hospitals), Philippine Navy (9 hospitals), and the Unified Area Commands with 11 hospitals.

He added that 11 ships from the Philippine Navy can also be utilized to transport the vaccines to the island provinces since it has refrigeration capacity, adding that military airplanes are ready to transport the vaccines from Manila to different areas in the country.

Meanwhile, President Duterte said that the government is using all assets of the government to transport the vaccines nationwide especially in far-flung areas.

The President also said that the government is ready to help LGUs especially in the storage of the vaccines to ensure its efficacy and to prevent vaccine wastage. (PIA-NCR)