PAMPANGA Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda said a cold storage that will keep the first batch of 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines purchased by the Pampanga provincial government from its own funds is ready after he led an inspection of the facility on Friday, March 5, 2021.

The Provincial Vaccine Cold Storage Facility, which houses six freezers, is located at the Provincial Engineer’s Office Compound in Barangay Sindalan in the City of San Fernando.

Four freezers can keep an average of 70,000 doses of AstraZeneca. A freezer can hold 51,030 doses of Pfizer. One can store 5,240 vials of Moderna or up to 48,960 vials of Sinovac, according to Provincial Administrator lawyer Charlie Chua. The freezers’ temperatures are set according to the brands of the vaccine. The second batch consists of 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca, he said.

Pineda said local governments can use the storage for their own vaccine supplies.

The AstraZeneca vaccines are scheduled to arrive between June and July 2021, said Pineda. Coming in two doses, these are to be injected at no cost to 300,000 individuals among health workers, essential workers and senior citizens.

He said the vaccination will be done in private hospitals and the provincial government’s 10 district hospitals. These will also monitor the recipients’ reactions to the vaccine.

Pineda said more doses would be purchased so that more Pampanga residents have anti-bodies against Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, which has killed 438 people and infected 7,161 others in the province, as of March 3.

He added that the national government has allocated to Pampanga a share of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines donations through the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital.

“Magpabakuna po tayo. Proteksyon po natin ito at ng ating pamilya laban sa Covid-19,” he said.