THE City Government of Bacolod will receive 5,850 doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines as soon as the inspection of our Ultra-Low Freezers (ULF) and Cold Room facility is completed and approved.
This was stressed by City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and coordinator of Covid-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC), after the representatives from the Department of Health (DOH) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, conducted the inspection and assessment of the city's ULF and cold chain facility.
Ang, on her Facebook page, said that DOH-Western Visayas Cold Chain Tech Antonio Mallorca, Food and Drug Regulation Officers Gladys Mae Sanchez and Ma. Gina Joquico of FDA Regional Office-Western Visayas, together with DOH Pharmacists Joy Anne Marcos, Vanessa Marie Barredo, Jedabelle Corgos and Angela Charmaine Fabio, checked the city's ULF that will be used to store up to 40,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines at a temperature of -70°C to -80°C and cold chain storage for other vaccine brands with temperature from -25°C to 30°C.
She said they also inspected the infrastructure of the city's cold room facility, specifically the capability to maintain the ambiance temperature requirement for storing the vaccines.
Ang also asked Vaccine Czar Secretary Charlie Galvez and National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) Chairman USec Myrna Cabotajeto to increase the allocation of Covid-19 vaccines for Bacolod City, considering the continuing surge of cases in the city.
"The vaccines that we are receiving in tiny trickles are grossly disproportionate to the number of master-listed individuals in priority groups," Ang said.
Moreover, about 15,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines from the national government arrived in Bacolod City Wednesday.
The vaccines were received by Ang, OIC-City Health Officer Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr.; and EOC deputy medical Dr. Chris Sorongon.
Ang said the additional 15,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines are in addition to the 60,740 doses received by the City since March, bringing the total to 75,740 doses of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines given to Bacolod by the national government.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia also expressed his gratitude to DOH-Western Visayas regional director Emilia Monicimpo for responding to the city's continuing requests for more vaccines.
"This is good news because this will accelerate the momentum of our vaccination program,” he said.
As of June 22, the EOC and CoVaC have administered a total of 54,849 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bacolodnons.