IT’S all systems go, as far as the city of Manila’s vaccination program is concerned, even as Mayor Isko Moreno announced that the city’s vaccine storage facility for COVID vaccines in Sta. Ana Hospital will be formally opened today (Thursday).
Moreno said he and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna already received the newly-delivered freezers for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, thus completing the storage units needed so that they can now accommodate any and all kinds of vaccines available in the market.
“So, lahat ng vaccines meron na tayong ref and storage facility sa Manila,” Moreno said, adding that the city now has the capability to store all sorts of vaccines as the new facility will be able to meet all types of required temperature to keep the vaccines stored properly.
He said there are now 12 ultra-low temperature freezers in the said storage facility located at the seventh floor of the Sta. Ana Hospital under the directorship of Dr. Grace Padilla and that the vaccines are all that is lacking for the local government’s action plans to already start rolling.
Moreno added the storage facility can accommodate at least 800,000 doses of vaccine.
The mayor said he and Lacuna met with concerned officials and personnel from the Sta. Ana Hospital under Padilla and the Manila Health Department headed by Dr. Arnold ‘Poks’ Pangan to polish the roles they will play once the storage facility opens and the vaccines arrive.
The mayor said at least 300 individuals will be utilized by the city government to administer the vaccines to those interested in getting inoculated for free.
City engineer Armand Andres, who was on top of the construction of the storage facility, said an anti-bacterial vinyl flooring was used to ensure bacteria-free storage of the vaccines.
Andres added that 11 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed in the 100-square-meter area and that the freezer units are equipped with uninterrupted power supply (UPS) feature that would give them ten to 15 minutes lead time in case of a brownout before the generators take over.
Moreno commended Andres for a job well done, noting that the construction of the said facility only took about ten days to finish.
Meanwhile, Moreno launched the city’s COVID-19 Food Security Program (FSP) that would provide about 700,000 families a monthly food subsidy consisting of rice, coffee and canned goods.
