The Manila city government officially opened its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) storage facility at the Sta. Ana Hospital on Friday.
Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso led the launching of the facility during the visit of officials from the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team.
Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan, vaccine czar and chief implementer of the National Action Plan against COVID-19 Carlito Galvez Jr., testing czar and deputy chief implementer of the National Action Plan against COVID-19 Vince Dizon, Food and Drug Administration Director Eric Domingo, Department of Health Assistant NCR Regional Director Paz Corrales, and Anti-Red Tape Authority Director General Jeremiah Belgica joined the inspection.
The storage facility is located at the 7th floor of Sta. Ana Hospital. Earlier, Domagoso said they chose the hospital as the location of the facility because it has power generators that will help prevent the compromise of the vaccines' integrity during power outages.
Manila city government officials have also had discussions with the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to ensure the steady power supply in the hospital, he added.
The Manila COVID-19 vaccine storage facility is equipped with various refrigerator units that will be used for the safekeeping of vaccines from different pharmaceutical companies.
There are five HYC-390 refrigerators for AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines, two -25°C and two -30°C biomedical freezers for Janssen and Moderna vaccines, respectively.
Three -86°C ULT freezers, which can store Pfizer vials, and 50 transport coolers are also set to be delivered to the hospital.
Domagoso encouraged the public to get vaccinated, saying that it is the key to reviving the Philippine economy.
“COVID-19 vaccination ang susi sa pagbubukas muli ng ekonomiya (COVID-19 vaccination is the key to opening up the economy),” he said.
“Gusto ko na pong makabalik na sa trabaho ang mga tao nang panatag, makasakay na sila ulit ng public transportation nang komportable, magbukas ang mga negosyo, makagalaw na ang mga nawalan ng trabaho, makabalik na ang mga bata sa eskwela (I want the people to return to work, to ride public transportation comfortably, for businesses to open, for displaced workers to start looking for work, for students to return to schools),” he added.
The Manila city government had earlier secured an advance purchase of 800,000 COVID-19 vaccines from British-Swedish biopharmaceutical AstraZeneca.
Domagoso also said they are eyeing to purchase more vaccines from other pharmaceutical firms.