The Department of Health (DOH) said it is now currently in the process of "institutionalizing" the Covid-19 vaccination program in order to bring vaccination services closer to communities.

"Nagta-transition na tayo (We are already transitioning). We are trying to institutionalize this Covid-19 vaccination program into our regular programs for public health," said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Tuesday, June 7.

“We would like that this vaccination be part of the regular or routinary work of our local governments or local health units kaya po yun pong malakihan na bakunahan ay hindi na po natin masyadong ginagamit sa ngayon (that is why we are no longer using some big vaccination sites anymore),” she added.

Vergeire made the statement following the announcement of the Manila city government that its drive-through vaccination site at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park will now be closed starting June 7.

The DOH spokesperson said that big vaccination sites like the Quirino Grandstand are “repurposed” sites.

“Binaba na po natin sa mga communities ang vaccination centers. Mas malapit po ito sa mga komunidad, mas malapit sa mga tao, mas accessible sa kanila, mas magpapabakuna sila (We are bringing the vaccination centers to the communities. It is closer to the communities, closer to the people, more accessible to them, and this will encourage them to get vaccinated),” she said.

“Now that we are transitioning back, gusto natin magamit na ito doon sa original purpose nitong mga facilities (we want to use these facilities again based on their original purpose) and we can already do our vaccinations in the communities— nearer to the people,” she added.

As of June 6, more than 69.5 million Filipinos have been fully-vaccinated. Vergeire also added that 14.3 million people received their booster doses.

Vaccine replacements

In a related development, Vergeire said that the DOH is currently negotiating with global vaccine sharing platform Covax Facility to replace vaccines that are set to expire.

“We have ongoing negotiations with them but on June 20, may initial na tayong replacements coming from Covax and these will be worth 300,000 vaccines. Sa susunod pa na negotiations, meron pang madadagdag na papalitan nila (we have initial replacements coming from Covax and these will be worth 300,000 vaccines. In the next negotiations, they are expected to replace more vaccines) ,” she said.

“We are now closely coordinating with all offices so that we can maximize our current supplies and also yung ating pakikipag-coordinate with Covax so that we can replace those set to expire na mga bakuna,” she added.

The DOH is still in the process of determining the total number of vaccines that are set to expire, said Vergeire.

“These expiring vaccines hindi pa kami makapag issue ng official numbers because tinatapos po ngayon yung wall-to-wall inventories (We have yet to issue an official number regarding expiring vaccines because the wall-to-wall inventories are still being finalized ) so that we can properly endorse to the next administration,” she said.