
Around 21,000 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine doses were wasted because of the onslaught of typhoon Odette, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
“We have initially about 21,000 doses that have been officially reported as wastage,” DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje said on Friday, Jan. 7.
The vaccine wastage were reported in Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Caraga, and Iloilo.
Some areas have yet to submit their report on vaccine wastage due to power interruption, said Cabotaje.
“Yung iba po hindi pa nagsa-submit ng report. Yung isang problema kasi natin ngayon, walang kuryente, connectivity. Kailangan mas kumpleto ang report sana (The others have yet to submit their reports. One problem we have now, there is no electricity, connectivity. We need to have a complete report),” she said.
“We are completing the reports and hopefully in the next one or two weeks we will have the final report of ilan talaga ang na-damage,” she added.
Cabotaje noted that some areas hit by the typhoon such as Mimaropa, Southern Leyte, and Iloilo have already resumed their vaccination activities.
“Sa Region 7... 70 to 75 percent palang ang nag resume. Ang Caraga, Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, ‘di pa 100 percent (In Region 7, vaccination resumption was at 70 to 75 percent. Caraga, Surigao del Norte, and Dinagat Islands were not yet 100 percent as well)," she added.