Provincial Health Officer (PHO) officer-in-charge Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez bared on Monday, May 17, 2021, that the province has its own cold storage facility similar to what the local government unit (LGU) of Tagbilaran procured.
It was reported that LGU Tagbilaran already procured an ultra-low temperature freezer that will be used to store vaccines like the one made by Pfizer.
He made the revelation during an interview on Monday over Open Forum hosted by Ardy Araneta-Batoy and Dave Albarado.
Lopez said that the cold storage facility of the province is being used to store the polio vaccines. He also said that the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Medical Center (GCGMMC), which is part of the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force (BIATF), is ready to store vaccines made by Pfizer Bio-N-Tech. The said vaccine needs to be stored in an ultra-low temperature freezer.
He added that in the event the national government provides the Pfizer vaccine, he expects that the number of vaccine doses given to Bohol will be adequately stored by the cold storage facility located at the GCGMMC.
Moreover, he said a room at the GCHMMC will be used as a vaccination center for those who will be inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine.
The PHO said that the Pfizer vaccine needs special handling and this is the reason Pfizer vaccine cannot be rolled out in far away places in the province.
He insisted that Bohol will be getting its share of vaccines and the people should get inoculated regardless of the brand. Anyway, every vaccine can help protect against the Coronavirus disease (Covid).
Meanwhile, the PHO reported that Bohol is the best performing province in Central Visayas in terms of the number of people inoculated with the available vaccines against Covid.
He added that Bohol achieved an almost 99% inoculation rate.