THE Davao City Government has not recorded unnecessary vaccine disposal since the city had started rolling out the Covid-19 vaccines in March 2021.
This is in response to the Department of Health (DOH) report that some vaccines in the country were reportedly wasted or expired.
Covid-19 Vaccination Cluster Head Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said in a radio interview on Friday, April 1 that there is no such case in the city, although there were instances that some vaccines given by the national health agency to the city were nearing expiration.
"Sa amo, first in, first out. Tapos kung naa mi near to expire, ginapaspasan na namo sya kay kung pwede lang wala tay expired vaccines," Villafuerte said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
(We practice a first in, first out policy. If the vaccines are nearing expiration, we hasten the rollout as we don't want our vaccines to expire.)
She, however, admitted that every vaccination site has wasted vaccines that are collected at the end of the day. And this usually happens in far-flung areas where only a few vaccinees get themselves inoculated for the day and the vaccines could only be administered within six hours once a batch has been opened.
Villafuerte clarified the wasted vaccines due to unforeseen events were minimal.
"Usahay man gud naa ta'y vaccines ang niabot upat lang labi na sa lagyong lugar dili nimo pwede paulion, tagaan gyud nimo na sya. After six hours dili na nimo puwede na mahatag ang vaccine," Villafuerte said.
(Sometimes, we have vaccines and only four vaccinees arrive from far locations and we can't turn them away, we really have to vaccinate them. But after six hours, we can no longer give the other vaccines.)
She added, "Kung naa'y ma-waste man, naa'y rason, dili sa kapabayaan (If there are wasted vaccines, there's a reason, and it's not because of negligence)."
The vaccination official said most of the wasted vaccines were due to broken bottles or the vaccine was not properly extracted or it was exposed somewhere.
Villafuerte said not all vaccines were donated as some were also purchased by the national government, so it is a waste of the country's resources if the vaccines expire because they are not used.
She then called on Dabawenyos to visit the vaccination hubs and get their primary and booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for their protection.
In a report from PTV, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion urged the public anew to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as 27 million doses of the vaccines intended to fight the virus will expire in July this year.