A HEALTH official in Negros Occidental on Thursday, June 17, 2021, said the Pfizer vaccines that arrived in the province Thursday will be used to vaccinate the remaining medical frontliners in the province per guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH) and Covax.
Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said Pfizer vaccines that arrived are intended for Category A1 vaccinees.
"We cannot administer it yet to A2 and A3 categories. We still have the barangay health workers who are not vaccinated yet and those who are in charge of the health facilities who are considered frontliners," Tumimbang said.
He said if the A1 vaccinees will be completed, they will ask for other guidelines from the DOH Regional Office.
Tumimbang said Pfizer vaccines are stored in ultra-low cold storage or freezer of the province and at Teresita Jaladoni Provincial Hospital. It cannot immediately be opened because it needs a sensitive negative 80 cold storage and handling.
Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT), said the 1,950 vials of Pfizer vaccines they received is equivalent to 11,700 doses because each vial is six doses and can vaccinate 5,850 people.
Caelian said the vaccines arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport via a Cebu Pacific flight around 8:14 a.m. The vaccines were stored in two specialized boxes and were immediately loaded into a waiting truck.
The PIMT head said one box containing 975 vials was transported to the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City, while the remaining vials were transported to the provincial government's ultra-low cold storage facility in Bacolod City.
"This is the first batch of the Pfizer vaccines received by the province," Caelian said.
Caelian also said they are expecting additional brands of vaccines such as Moderna after its slated arrival later in June in Metro Manila. He said its exact arrival in Negros Occidental has yet to be determined.
Negros Occidental is currently vaccinating those under the A1 (Frontline Health Workers), A2 (Senior Citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) category.
With the arrival of the Pfizer vaccines, Caelian hopes that vaccine demand will further increase, especially as Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has become "quite concerned" over the rising number of Covid-related fatalities in the province.
Caelian enticed Negrenses to get vaccinated, saying that even though there is still a small chance that a vaccinated individual can still get infected with Covid-19, the vaccines can help reduce the chances of hospitalizations and even deaths.