Andi Garcia
Senator Francis Tolentino expressed his opposition to the government’s plan to dispose of 44 million doses of expired COVID-19 vaccines by dumping them in New Clark City in Tarlac.
During a hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, former National Task Force deputy chief implementer and Bases Conversion and Development Authority chair Vince Dizon revealed that the facility in New Clark City was being considered for the disposal of unused and expired COVID-19 vaccines.
Senator Tolentino raised concerns about the safety of such a move, pointing out that the facility is used by athletes for training and that the vaccines could pose a health risk to them.
Tolentino also called on the Department of Health to come up with a plan for the safe disposal of the 40 million expired COVID-19 vaccine doses, citing environmental and health concerns.
He asked, “Any discussions on this? What do we do with these? What do we do with these because environmentally, these might not be safe… how do you dispose? Susunugin, ibabaon sa lupa, itatapon sa Pacific Ocean? Papano?” Tolentino is the chairman of the committee.
