BACOLOD City – To properly store coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, local government units in Negros Occidental are encouraged to purchase biomedical refrigerators.
Dr. Ernell Tumimbang of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said LGUs having their own cold storage facilities will make vaccine deployment easier for the province’s 12 cities and 19 municipalities.
“These equipment will not be a waste of money since they can still use it (to store) other vaccines and it can also be used for laboratories,” Tumimbang explained.
The provincial government itself will purchase cold storage boxes and rent refrigerated vehicles to transport the vaccines to the localities across the province.
“We are encouraging LGUs to also buy their own biomedical refrigerators since cold storage is very critical in the distribution of vaccines,” Tumimbang said.
Gov. Eugenio Lacson earlier asked for three million doses of anti-coronavirus shots from the national government to reach 70 percent of the province’s total population, or some 1.5 million Negrenses needing two doses each.
In early January, the provincial government secured 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines trough a tripartite agreement. These jabs indented for medical frontliners are expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year.
LGUs without funds for COVID-19 vaccines, according to Lacson, could rely on the national government to provide vaccines for their constituents.
The provincial government will prioritize its health workers, and the national government will take care of the vaccination for the remaining Negrenses, he said. (With a report from PNA/PN)
