When asked if Cagayan de Oro City Hall should acquire additional bio-freezers to house the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines that may be provided by the national government, acting City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery stated, “We must remember that the allocation of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccines won’t be done in bulk by the national government if ever we are given a share. The bio freezer’s capacity as mentioned by the City Health Insurance Office (CHIO) is about 158 liters so we hove to make sure if we will receive the Pfizer vaccine from the Department of Health (DOH) and how much will we receive.”

An ultra-cold temperature storage requirement of 70 to 80 degrees Celsius is needed to store the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has a reported 95 percent efficacy rate. However, during a press briefing conducted at the JR Borja General Hospital following Tuesday’s (Feb. 16) vaccination drill, DOH-10 coordinator on the expanded immunization program Genena Jacot reiterated that as of this moment, there is no cold storage facility in Cagayan de Oro City or Misamis Oriental that can accommodate vaccines at negative 70 to 80 degrees Celsius.

“We have three facilities that can store vaccines like Moderna at 30 to 40 degrees Celsius—the Mets Inc. facility near Nestle in Barangay Tablon, one facility near Corrales and one in Natumulan, Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental,” Jacot said.

She added, “We’re not sure if Pfizer vaccine will be given (to Cagayan de Oro) so it would be impractical to buy (additional bio freezers) if we’re not sure if we’ll get Pfizer.”

Furthermore, Dr. Nery stated that the city will still purchase bio-freezers depending on the type of vaccine that the national government would distribute to Cagayan de Oro.

(Source: City Information Office)

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