LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial recently procured an ultra-low freezer to store vaccines that require ultra-low storage to preserve their efficacy.
Gov. Melchor Diclas said the purchase of the ultra-low storage equipment was initiated after the inter-agency task force for the management of emerging infectious diseases announced that vaccines requiring ultra-cold storage will only be given to local governments with established ultra-cold storage facilities.
Further, he claimed that there is also a similar ultra-low freezer owned by the State-run Benguet State University (BSU) but this needs to be repaired to become fully operational and compliant with the requirements of the health department on the operation of cold chain facilities for the storage of the vaccines.
The governor opined that with the expected arrival of the ultra-low freezer, the province will be given allocations of Pfizer, Gamaleya and Moderna vaccines as these require ultra-low storage facilities.
He disclosed that this ultra-low chain freezer can accommodate substantial doses of vaccines.
Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik V vaccines require up to negative 80 degrees storage to be able to maintain their efficacy when rolled out for vaccination.
Diclas assured that the provincial government will continue to work on the improvement of the province’s ultra-low storage facilities to ensure that more vaccines requiring ultra-low storage will be given to the local government to increase the coverage of government’s mass vaccination program in Benguet.
He urged the residents in the different parts of the province to register with their respective municipal governments for inclusion in the list of recipients of vaccines that will be allocated for Benguet as the allocation will depend on the number of individuals who will register and signify their interest to be inoculated.
The local chief executive explained that the vaccines will provide added protection to individuals against the severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
He urged residents to avail of the vaccines when these become available in the province.
Diclas expressed hope that the acceptability of the available vaccines among the province’s constituency will further improve in the coming weeks so that more residents will register and be inoculated the soonest possible time for the realization of herd immunity. By HENT
