The Montefarm pharmacy health institution of Montenegro is having difficulties in procuring the seasonal flu vaccine for the 2022/2023 flu surveillance season. year.
"When it comes to the procurement, storage and distribution of vaccines, as a socially responsible and first of all health institution that is financed from the budget, we believe it is necessary to inform the public about the difficulties in procuring the seasonal flu vaccine for this season," announced Montefarm.
From this institution, they believe that "the assessment of the need for the said vaccine, as well as vaccines in general that are used for vaccination of children and adults in Montenegro, is carried out by the Institute for Public Health based on the expressed needs of all public health institutions where immunization is carried out".
"After the IJZCG sent a request for the procurement of 23.875 doses of vaccines against seasonal flu at the beginning of this month, Montefarm started the procurement process," the statement added.
"Since the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare did not allocate funds for the procurement of vaccines during the distribution of budget funds, and therefore the FZOCG could not foresee them in the Decision on the distribution of budget funds for the year 2022, ZUACG Montefarm turned to the Ministry of Health on April 07 this year with a request for securing the necessary funds in the amount of 240.228,50 euros," said Montefarm.
They added that "we were warned by the supplier that it is necessary to start the process of tendering as soon as possible, because the manufacturer has already started production preparations and receiving orders for the necessary doses since last month, and that it does not guarantee the availability of the vaccine if we exceed the time limit that I manufacturer sets".
They said that they are fully aware of the risks involved in the delay in announcing the tender, and that they contacted the Ministry of Health and clarified the situation three times this month, and demanded an immediate response in accordance with the authority of the relevant ministry, and to date they have not received a response.
"Montefarm's thirty-year experience in the procurement, acceptance, storage and distribution of vaccines is unquestionable, which we confirmed during the mass vaccination against the current SARS-CoV-2 virus. It also gives us the right to inform the public about a possible delay in the delivery of the vaccine against flu for the 2022/2023 surveillance season, thus delaying vaccination," concluded this health institution.
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