ILOILO – Vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) delivered to local government units (LGUs) have a unique storage requirement – they must be kept cold. To prevent spoilage, there must be “24/7 overseers” ensuring this, according to the Provincial Health Office (PHO), citing their limited supply.
“There must be constant monitoring,” Dr. Ma. Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, PHO head, told Panay News.
In San Enrique town, 167 doses of CoronaVac vaccine China-based Sinovac Biotech got spoiled in May. The refrigerator where they were stored malfunctioned during a power interruption and the personnel in-charge failed to act properly.
Quiñon reiterated these vaccine storage reminders from the Department of Health (DOH):
* Assign a vaccine refrigerator/vaccine storage facility for vaccine storage only.
* There should be no other medicines, products and foods, among others, inside the units. The storage facilities must also be properly labeled.
* Observe the proper stacking of the vaccines, preferably the window-type stacking with spaces in between boxes.
* For the vaccine in-charge: Temperature monitoring shall be four times a day.
* Report immediately issues or concerns that may arise relative to the handling, transport and storage of the vaccines.
“And dapat may contingency plan,” Quiñon said.
The plan should include alternate person in-charge of the storage facilities, back-up storage units in case of primary storage unit failure and power outages, among others.
“Make sure that voltage generators are functioning,” added Quiñon. “Amo ‘na ang ready gid, may generator set.”
The PHO head also issued an appealed to electric companies.
“I-refrain, if possible…kon mag-brownout gid man, i-ano lang bala nga indi man maapektohan ang mga vaccines ta,” Quiños said.
The San Enrique vaccine spoilage was only disclosed to the media recently. According to Mayor Mediatrix Rosario Fernandez, the jabs were supposed to be or the second dose inoculation of 167 residents.
What caused the damage?
The LGU has six units of TCW 3000 refrigerators; the vaccines were stored there.
Fernandez said an unscheduled power interruption lasted for 10 to 15 minutes.
“Normally naga-power back man lang ‘na ang mga refrigerators naton. Galing at that time nataboan sa amo ‘na nga brownout wala siguro na-check sang Rural Health Unit (RHU) personnel nga indi gali tanan nagsiga, may isa nga wala nag-power back on,” Fernandez told Panay News.
Although the LGU had a standby power generator set, Fernandez said the RHU opted not to use it as the power interruption did not last long.
The RHU immediately reported the incident to the PHO and DOH Region 6.
The PHO later found out that the vaccine temperature was at 10 degree Celsius, instead of the prescribed two to nine degree Celsius.
Further inspection revealed that due to the constant power fluctuations and power interruptions in the town, the volt guard which protected the refrigerator got damaged./PN
