Over 4,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were wasted due to power interruptions during the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the Department of Health said.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a total of 4,120 doses from Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas regions were wasted.
“There were also some vaccines that were returned or have been transferred so that we can be able to assess these vaccines if they are still potent, if they can still be used,” Vergeire said.
The DOH previously reported that around 100 vials of the Pfizer vaccine were wasted due to power interruptions in Iloilo.
The National Vaccination Operations Center said it had instructed local government units on how to determine which vaccines to save.
Meanwhile, the DOH reminded local government units they could not yet administer COVID-19 vaccines to minors aged 5 to 11.
“The DOH would also like to clarify that the COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 years old has not started yet and that preparations for the rollout for this specific age group are still underway,” Vergerie said.
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for the age group.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ total number of acquired COVID-19 vaccines breached the 200 million mark after it received 587,800 Moderna vaccines on Monday, officials said.
The new shipment of the US-made vaccines, donated by Germany through the COVAX Facility initiative, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport past 4 p.m.
Vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez thanked Berlin, the UN-backed initiative, and the European Union for their vaccine donations to the Philippines, saying they helped Filipinos get “more than enough” jabs to fight the pandemic.
Galvez also expressed his gratitude to the US, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and various local organizations for supporting the COVAX initiative.
“The supply is more than enough to completely inoculate 100 million people nationwide, including the inoculation of booster shots,” he said.
According to Galvez, a total 202,660,355 coronavirus vaccine doses have been delivered to the country since February this year.
As of Monday, the Philippines had fully immunized at least 47.1 million of its 109 million population.
The government aims to achieve complete vaccination for 54 million people before the end of December, 77 million by the first quarter of next year, 90 million by the second quarter, and the rest of the population by the third quarter.
