AMID the extremely high temperatures being recorded across the country, the Department of Health (DOH) called on all local health centers and rural health units to make sure that their respective cold chain storage for vaccines are properly maintained.
In an online media forum, DOH-National Immunization Program (NIP) manager Dr. Janis Macazo said it is imperative for stockpiles of vaccines to keep their required storage temperature.
"We are appealing to our health centers to always maintain the required temperature (of the vaccines). They shouldn't be going up so that the vaccines won't get spoiled," said Macazo.
She said this is especially necessary for those that do not use cold chain equipment that meet the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The health official noted how there are still health facilities that use regular refrigerators as their cold storage equipment.
"As long as they are well maintained and the temperature is regularly checked, those are okay," said Macazo.
The DOH's appeal came amid the persistent dangerous heat indexes ranging from 42 to 46 degrees being recorded by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
The Department of Energy (DOE) has also pointed out that the current power situation in the country has reached crisis proportions.
Low immunization coverage
The adequate supply of vaccines is crucial as the country continues to have a low number of fully-immunized children (FIC).
Data from the DOH-NIP showed that the country has a 62.3 percent FIC for 2023, and is way lower than the target number of FICs set by the DOH.
"We should be having 95 percent coverage of children with complete immunization in order for us to attain herd immunity," said Macazo.
An FIC is defined as a child, who has received one dose of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, three doses of pentavalent vaccine, three doses of oral polio vaccine, and two doses of meningococcal vaccine at his/her 12th month. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)