Vaccine cold chain management poses big challenge

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  • MITCH M. LIPA

The cold chain management for COVID-19 vaccines is one big challenge for every local government unit, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said.

Tumimbang met with Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson and discussed the logistical requirement from the time the province will accept the vaccines from the national government up to the distribution to various towns and cities.

In this photo from the Philippine News Agency, officials of the Department of Health and National Policy Against Covid-19 inspect the cold storage facility for Covid-19 vaccines of Zuellig Pharma Corporation in Parañaque City.

The provincial government will procure a cold box for every LGU that will be used during transport of the vaccines by a refrigerated van.

The refrigerated van will be rented by Capitol, he said.

PHO is requiring every LGU, particularly the component cities, to purchase their own biomedical refrigerators to serve as receiving cooling units for the vaccines inside a cold box after it is taken out from the refrigerated van.

This will require an area attached to a generator set in case of power failure.

Tumimbang said cold chain management is very critical in order not to waste any single vaccine since not all members of the community can avail of it.

The Department of Health set aside a budget for only 70 percent of the population as required by the World Health Organization in order to obtain herd immunity.

The PHO chief advised all city and municipal health officers to have their survey as early as now to determine the absolute number of vaccine recipients representing 70 percent of their population so that they will also know the number of vaccines needed and the cooling units they need to buy.

Tumimbang said the cooling units can be used by the LGU after COVID-19 vaccination to store other vaccines or medicines.

For smaller LGUs that cannot afford to buy their own biomedical refrigerators, the PHO will send the vaccines for use during the day in a refrigerated van.

The LGU will conduct their vaccination in one place following procedures from registration of the patient to the vaccination proper.

What is challenging is the observation area which should be composed of a medical team to check for side effects after inoculation, he said.

Determining the members of the vaccination team in every LGU is very important so that they can fill in the manpower requirement early.

Midwives can be utilized as vaccinators aside from doctors and nurses, he added.

This is one logistical requirement the LGU should prepare, Tumimbang said.

Every LGU is also required to draw up its vaccination plan in order to establish a system and direction.

Tumimbang submitted a budget of less than P1 million to the Office of the Governor to purchase other logistical requirement for the province’s vaccination program.

This includes syringes prescribed by the DOH for uniformity.

The PHO will set a date for a simulation activity to determine the time and motion during actual vaccination. – MML