CEBU CITY –– A government-owned hospital in this city is set to receive at least 1,900 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), said the vaccines, which personnel of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) would get, are part of the 114,000 doses that would arrive in the Philippines between Feb. 12 and 15.
Since the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be administered in two doses 28 days apart, VSMMC would need 5,808 doses.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr., VSMMC hospital administrator, said the number of personnel who agreed to be inoculated has reached 2,904.
The vaccination area at the VSMMC will be the Center of Behavioral Sciences. The ground floor is intended for the vaccination, while the second floor will be for the registration.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the DOH-7, said the VSMMC would be the only hospital that would serve as a COVID-19 vaccination center in Central Visayas.
“Sotto is part of the list primarily because (it was) tagged as (a) COVID hospital,” she said.
Citing data they obtained from VSMMC, Loreche said the hospital employed at least 2,987 frontline healthcare workers.
Last Feb. 9, the DOH, together with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and VSMMC, conducted a simulation of the vaccination procedures.
Loreche said it took 70 minutes to bring the vaccines to the VSMMC from the airport.
Healthcare workers are on the national government’s priority list for the COVID-19 inoculation program, along with senior citizens, indigents, and uniformed personnel.
Malacañang, in a press briefing last Monday, announced that the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine was scheduled on Feb. 15.
In the meantime, Loreche said DOH-7 would train other hospitals in the region so they would be accredited as COVID-19 vaccination centers in the future.
Iloilo vaccination plan
In Iloilo, officials have been ready to implement the provincial vaccination plan months before the vaccines were expected to be available in the province.
The 51-page Vaccine Deployment and Immunization Plan 2021-2022 will ensure that all eligible residents will have “free, effective, safe, and high-quality vaccines against COVID-19,” according to its executive summary.
The plan, the first to be submitted by a local government unit in Western Visayas to the Department of Health, has nine main components, including the identification of eligible population; vaccination procurement and delivery; cold chain, supply, and healthcare waste management; and immunization, registration, monitoring, and data management systems.
Major funding for vaccines is expected to come from the national government with the provincial government complementing the budget of the national government, according to the plan.
The local governments of Iloilo’s 42 towns and one city are also encouraged to come up with funds for vaccine procurement.
Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. earlier signed a multilateral agreement with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines, Inc., represented by its Country President Lotis Ramin; the national government represented by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., COVID-19 policy chief implementer, and vaccine czar; and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
Iloilo province purchased an initial 270,000 doses of vaccines with a total purchase price of $1.35 million (P64.9 million).
The province has an initial allocation of P95 million for vaccine procurement.
The province has a projected population of 2,068,412 this year.
The national government is targeting the inoculation of at least 70 percent of the population to achieve “herd immunity” to lower the risk of spreading the infection.
Iloilo’s vaccination plan will be implemented in three phases prioritizing frontline health workers, elderly residents, indigents, uniformed personnel, and those with comorbidities.
The first phase will involve inoculation of initial doses premised on limited vaccine supplies.
Vaccine distribution will be expanded for a larger population with more vaccines available in the second phase.
The last phase will be the strategic integration of COVID-19 vaccines in routine vaccine programs.