The province of Iloilo is now ready with an operational vaccination plan against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

On Thursday, Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. signed Executive Order No. 036, series of 2021, adopting the Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment and Immunization Plan 2021-2022 (COVAC Plan 21-22) of the province.

“The province has prepared its COVAC Plan 21-22 for the purpose of ensuring that all eligible citizens of the province will have free, effective, safe, and high-quality vaccines against Covid-19,” the EO read.

He said while the plan was being drafted more than a week ago, some of its parts are in progress such as the signing of the multi-lateral agreement with pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and the national government for the Covid-19 vaccines.

“Even as we finalize it and adopted officially through an executive order, this has been going on,” he said during a press conference that was streamed live through Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo.

The identification of vaccination sites, registration of eligible population, and preparation of cold storage are also underway.

The plan has nine components which include planning and coordination; financing and funding mechanisms; identification of eligible population; vaccination program and delivery strategies; cold chain, supply, and health care waste management; human resource management and training; acceptance and uptake; vaccine immunization safety monitoring, Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) and Adverse Event of Special Interest (AESI); and post-marketing surveillance, and management and pharmacovigilance; and immunization, registration, monitoring and data management system.

A copy of the plan has been furnished to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force.

Defensor said the province will be waiting for feedback from them.

“One of our important objectives here is to synchronize our Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment and Immunization Plan of the province with the direction and objective of the national government,” the governor added.

Meanwhile, the governor, in his EO, said to realize the objectives of the plan, the provincial government will “mobilize its entire bureaucracy, including that of all the municipalities and component city, the private sector, socio-civic organizations, non-governmental organizations and all the volunteer groups in the province”. (PNA)