Cold chain managers told to protect vaccines amid rainy season, brownouts —DOH exec

Managers of cold chain facilities should prepare measures for the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in case of power outages, flash floods, and landslides during the rainy season, a Department of Health official said Sunday.

According to Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, the government placed a service continuity plan wherein they map out the cold chain facilities in flood-prone and landslide-prone areas. 

Cabotaje, chairman of the National Vaccination Operations Center, said they directed managers of these cold chain facilities to assign a safer area where vaccines are protected from flash floods.

"Ang pangunahing direksiyon kung mag-aalanganin sila sa facility, ilipat sila sa mas safe na lugar (If their facilities are in danger, vaccines should be transferred to a safer area)," she told Dobol B TV.

On the safety of the cold storage facility in flood-prone Marikina, Cabotaje assured the public that vaccines are elevated to keep away from floods.

"Nasa second floor ang storage (The storage is on the second floor)," she added.

On Sunday morning,  the newly-arrived one million doses of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines were transported to PhrmaServ Express in Marikina City.

Earlier, the Department of Energy asked government officials to protect COVID-19 vaccine vials in facilities as brownouts are possible due to power supply woes.

Cabotaje earlier said cold chain facilities already have backup power in case of rotational brownouts. They also gave coordinates of vaccine centers to power suppliers to ensure that these facilities will not be affected, she added. —KG, GMA News