The Department of Health (DOH) said it is checking reports of possible COVID-19 vaccine wastage in areas affected by typhoon Odette.

“In terms of the wastage, we are trying to get more reports,” said DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje in a public briefing on Saturday, Dec. 18.

“The comm are down. We are coordinating with the OCD (Office of Civil Defense), even our military para makita natin kung ano iyong ating mga kalagayan ng ating mga vaccines (so that we can verify the conditions of the vaccines),” she added.

Cabotaje said that “we may have some vaccines that have been compromised because of power outages.”

However, Cabotaje stressed that personnel manning the cold chain facilities are prepared in such scenarios.

“Alam naman ng ating mga cold chain managers iyong ating mga bakuna center kung ano ang gagawin (Our cold chain managers in the vaccination centers already know what they should do),” she said.

“But just in case pag-monitor nila four times a day eh nagpa-fluctuate na hindi ma-maintain iyong temperature, ang aming directive sa kanila ibakuna na kung puwedeng ibakuna ang mga iyan (But just in case during their monitoring---the temperature fluctuates, our directive to them is to use the vaccines if possible),” she added.

“But always, safety ang effectiveness ang ating basehan. So if they are sure na safe iyong vaccine, ibakuna nila; kung hindi itago na lang, i-quarantine para i-assess natin (But always, our basis is safety and effectiveness. So, if they are sure that the vaccine is safe, they can use it; if not, they should quarantine the vaccines first and we will conduct an assessment [if the vaccines can still be used or not),” she furthered.

During the Malacanang press briefing on Friday night, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III appealed to the Department of Energy to immediately restore the power lines in areas affected by Odette.

“Ginagamit ko po ang pagkakataong ito na makiusap sa Department of Energy na siguraduhin ang atin pong restoration ng mga power lines (I take this opportunity to ask the Department of Energy to ensure the restoration of power lines),” said Duque.

“Ang kuryente ay napakamahalaga po lalo na dito po sa mga lugar kung saan nandoon po ang ating mga logistics for our vaccination program (Electricity is very important especially here in the areas where our logistics for our vaccination program are located),” he added.