Taytay, Rizal LGU prepares cold storage facility for COVID-19 vaccines

The municipal government of Taytay, Rizal has designated a cold storage facility where COVID-19 vaccines will be kept, Mayor Joric Gacula said on Monday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, Gacula said the local government unit tapped the Royale Cold Storage in Barangay San Isidro as storage facility for the COVID-19 vaccines.

“Ito, kayang mag-hold ng 28 million doses. Kaya napili namin ito [ay] dahil world class ang facility at saka protektado ang ating bakuna dito. Nakakatiyak tayo hindi mapapaso ang bakuna,” he added.

With such a capacity, the facility is more than sufficient for the vaccines allocated for Taytay, which only has around 370,000 population, the mayor said.

The facility will store the COVID-19 vaccines provided by the national government and the local government, he added.

The Taytay LGU allotted P300 million for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and AstraZeneca.

According to Gacula, the cold storage facility can maintain a -20 degrees Celsius  temperature, which meets the requirement of the two vaccines.

The LGU will comply with the prioritization of recipients set by the national government.

Led by the municipal health office, the vaccination program of the LGU will have at least 70 nurses as vaccinators, Gacula said.

Schools will be used as vaccination areas, where observation rooms will also be set up to monitor recipients in case of possible side effects from receiving the shot.

Through an online monitoring system, recipients will be checked periodically, Gacula said.

According to Gacula, Taytay now has only 40 active cases of COVID-19.

He advised residents to keep observing health protocols to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. —KG, GMA News