COVID-19 vaccine backup plans in place amid power outages

The National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) has been preparing to prevent COVID-19 vaccine wastage amid the implementation of rotational brownouts.

The following are the operational guidelines under its Advisory No. 49:

1.   Develop contingency plans and conduct simulation activities in preparation of natural disasters and power outages;
2.   Prepare back-up power sources such as battery back-up power, portable or whole house generators, or solar panel systems;
3.   Coordinate closely with respective RVOC or LVOC on the possibility of storing COVID-19 vaccines;
4.   Closely monitor the temperature of cold chain storage of COVID-19 vaccines (at least four times daily).

Dr. Ariel Valencia, Department of Health (DOH) Supply Chain Management Services director, said there are backup generators at the Pharmaserve facility which stores over 78,000 CoronaVac doses, over 6,000 Sputnik V doses, and almost 1,000 Pfizer doses.

Valencia said facilities have been prepared for scenarios such as power interruption even before the vaccines were delivered, since storage facilities have contingency or backup plans.

The official said they have coordinated with Meralco in terms of power supply, and the facility is located within Meralco’s priority area.

Meralco said they “will try to exempt vital installations, particularly the vaccination areas currently ongoing including the storage facilities.”

Meanwhile, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said coordination is also ongoing with local government units (LGUs) for their contingency plans.

“Ang sinasabi nga po natin sa ating mga LGUs ay magkaroon po tayo ng third-party provider, kasi iyon pong mga third-party provider ay talagang assured na assured iyong kanilang tinatawag na backup system in terms of iyong handling,” he said in the June 1 Palace briefing. – Reports from Mark Fetalco and Rod Lagusad/AG-jlo