There are 221,049 COVID-19 vaccines in Negros Occidental that are set to expire by the end of April, Dr. Claudelia Josefa Pabillo, Provincial Health Office cold chain coordinator, said Thursday, March 31.
Set to expire are 36,720 doses of Pfizer orange cap vaccines for minors, 4,890 doses of Moderna, 38,900 doses of AstraZeneca and 140, 539 doses of Janssen, she said.
Pabillo assured that the Pfizer orange cap vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years old have been allocated for their second doses that will be used up before the end of April.
In fact more Pfizer orange cap vaccines are arriving to prepare minors for the resumption of face-to-face classes, she said.
However, there has been a slow down in the vaccination of the rest of the population.
There are few people going to vaccination centers, she said.
Pabillo said they do not dispose of expiring vaccines because they wait for the final say of the Food and Drug Administration on whether they have shelf life extensions.
They use vaccines that are about to expire first, she said, but noted that there has been a low acceptance of AstraZeneca vaccines because of a lot of misconceptions.
Pabillo said the provincial government is also continuing to administer booster shots in local government units and in hospitals.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said vaccination drives are continuing in Negros Occidental, and they are making sure that more allocations are made where the demand is high.
Dr. Edwin Miraflores, OIC Bacolod City Health Officer, also said the near expiring vaccines have become a problem of a lot of local government units.
The City Emergency Operations Center has appealed to the National Vaccination Operations Center not to deliver near expiring vaccines.*