The Vaccine Cluster of the Davao City COVID-19 Task Force bared that there was no unnecessary vaccine disposal recorded in Davao City.
Vaccine Cluster Head Dr. Josephine Villafuerte, during the Madayaw Davao program of 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) on April 1, 2022, said: “Sa amo, first in, first out. Tapos kung naa mi near to expire, ginapaspasan na namo sya kay kung pwede lang wala tay expired vaccines (We practice a first in, first out policy. If the vaccines are nearing expiration, we hasten the rollout as we don’t want our vaccines to expire).”
While the Department of Health (DOH) reportedly recorded that 1.7 million vaccines were wasted, she maintained there is no such case in the city although there were instances that some vaccines given by the national health agency to the city were nearing expiration.
“So far kita, wala man ta’y ingon na nasayang gyud siguro naa ta’y wastage ibig sabihin siguro naay wastage like nabiak ang bote, di maayos pag-extract ang vaccine or na-expose kung asa. Mao tong mga daut nato pero naexpire, wala na mahitabo (So far we don’t have wasted vaccines due to expiration, we have wastage like broken bottles or the vaccine was not properly extracted or it was exposed somewhere. That’s how our vaccines were wasted but we never had vaccines that went to waste due to expiration),” Dr. Villafuerte said.
The retired chief of the City Health Office (CHO), however, said every vaccination site has wasted vaccines that are collected at the end of the day. And this usually happens in far-flung areas where only a few vaccinees get themselves inoculated for the day and the vaccines could only be administered within six hours once a batch has been opened.
She maintained that the city’s wasted vaccines due to unforeseen events were minimal.
“Usahay man gud naa ta’y vaccines ang niabot upat lang labi na sa lagyong lugar dili nimo pwede paulion, tagaan gyud nimo na sya. After six hours dili na nimo puwede na mahatag ang vaccine (Sometimes, we have vaccines and only four vaccinees arrive from far locations and we can’t turn them away, we really have to vaccinate them. But after six hours, we can no longer give the other vaccines),” Dr. Villafuerte said.
She added, “Kung naa’y ma-waste man, naa’y rason, dili sa kapabayaan (If there are wasted vaccines, there’s a reason, and it’s not because of negligence).”
Dr. Villafuerte said not all vaccines were donated as some were also purchased by the national government. So it’s a waste of the country’s resources if the vaccines expire because they are not used.
She then called on Dabawenyos to visit the vaccination hubs and get their primary and booster doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccines for their protection.CIO
