CEBU, Philippines — A simulation exercise for the rollout of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program from the national hub to the regional hub will take place in Cebu and Davao on February 10, 2021, the Department of Health (DOH)-7 said.
DOH-7 Director Jaime Bernadas said in an online forum that the simulation will focus on what needs to be done when the vaccine arrives, how it will be transported from the airport to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center as the designated COVID-19 hospital, and see if the vaccine distributor will come in.
“There are instructions if these vaccines arrive. Part of the procurement of the vaccines is the logistic component, which is the transport of these vaccines from the national hub to the regional hub down to the barangay, which is not yet determined and not yet fixed but we just have to be ready,” Bernadas said.
Bernadas said the regional office has an existing cold storage capacity at two to eight degree Celsius with a capacity of up to 3.5 million COVID-19 vaccines. Another freezer with a capacity of 400,000 vaccines at minus 80 degrees Celsius is expected to arrive next week.
A freezer for VSMMC, which has the same capacity as the new DOH freezer, will be delivered this week.
DOH-7 chief pathologist and spokesperson, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, said they have already come up with a structural design on how to roll the vaccination program out in Cebu during a discussion with Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) deputy chief implementer Mel Feliciano.
Feliciano is setting up the vaccination program in Cebu together with the Emergency Operation Centers.
Loreche said they have discussed structural logistics, including computing the number of people to be vaccinated and accommodated in a particular area, identifying the areas where the vaccination will be carried out, and determining the number of individuals that will compose the vaccination team.
“This is already finished and we really look forward that this can be cascaded and we can have a meeting with various LGUs involving Mandaue, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, and Cebu Province,” Loreche said.
She said it is important for the local government units to be united for the rollout to be easier.
Starting today, from Monday to Wednesday, trainers at both public and private hospitals will undergo training that will be conducted by VSMMC spearheaded by DOH-7.
She said DOH-7 will continue to educate the public, especially the grassroots, to allay fears about the vaccines.
Assurance
In the same forum, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire assured the safety and efficacy of the vaccines that will be used for the vaccination program. She said the COVID-19 vaccines to be used under the Emergency Use Authority (EUA) underwent clinical trials and very rigid processes to ensure safety and efficacy.
“Hindi bumili ang ating gobyerno nang bakuna na makakasama sa ating populasyon. Eto po ang sinisugro natin through a regulatory process,” Vergeire said adding the vaccines lessen our chances of contracting severe COVID-19 and even death and the less chances of infecting the virus to other people.
Vergeire said 117,000 Pfizer vaccines are expected by the second or third week of February and another five to nine million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered by the COVAX facility between the first and second quarter of this year.
Although there is no specific date when the vaccination program will be rolled out, Vergeire said DOH is now preparing to roll the program out within three days after the vaccines arrive.
“So, for example, darating yung vaccines on February 15, in a matter of three days, pwede na i-roll out yung vaccination program,” Vergeire said.
Priority sectors
Vergeire said healthcare workers, senior citizens with comorbidities, the indigent population, uniformed personnel, and essential workers like teachers are among the top priorities in the vaccination program.
These groups comprise about 24 million of the population.
She said that of the initial delivery of 117,000 vaccines, only 58,500 health care workers can be vaccinated since the rest will be reserved for their second dose.
The government targets to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos.
“Ito po ay para sa sinasabing herd immunity. Pero dahil nga po may kakulangan sa mga bakuna because of international or global shortage, meron tayong sinasabi na ang ating adhikain sa ngayon para maibsan ang risk ng ating vulnerable population,” she said.
Depending on the supply and the delivery of the vaccines, Vergeire said they are eyeing to roll the vaccination program out in three years or up to 2023 but the timeframe is flexible depending on the arrival of the other vaccines.- JMO (FREEMAN)