DAVAO CITY – Aside from AstraZeneca, the City Government of Davao is also negotiating for the purchase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J), City Health Office COVID-19 Focal Person Dr. Ashley Lopez revealed.
DAVAO CITY - The Department of Health (DOH) Davao Center for Health Development reported 202 new cases of COVID-19 in the region with more than half of the cases coming from Davao City.
January 27, 2021 ASIDE from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Davao City Government is also negotiating with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson) for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, the city s Covid-19 focal person, Dr. Ashley Lopez, confirmed.
In a radio interview on Wednesday, January 27, 2021, Lopez said the city is also in talks with Janssen for the possible procurement of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine. Ako nahibaw-an katong gipa-reserve sa atong mayor (Sara Duterte-Carpio), katong AstraZeneca and J&J. Johnson & Johnson nga brand (Based on the initial information I received, the mayor will be reserving for cold chain storage vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson), the health official said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
January 26, 2021 THE newly-inaugurated Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao Covid-19 Molecular Laboratory is expected to help in Davao Region s testing needs.
On January 18, 2021, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Debold Sinas conducted a command visit at PRO-Davao in Catitipan, where he led the formal inauguration of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) molecular laboratory.
This is the fourth molecular lab of the PNP in the country and the first in Mindanao.
In a press conference, Sinas said he will leave the operation of the lab to PRO-Davao, which will also decide as to who can avail of their testing service.
PRO-Davao Director Filmore Escobal said their medical technologists are still training at the University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UP-Min) Genome Center and they are still waiting for them to graduate before they can formally operate.
PRIVATE hospitals in Davao City are struggling to cater to critical Covid-19 patients, health officials admitted.
Davao City Covid-19 focal person Dr. Ashley Lopez said in a recent radio interview that despite having the One Hospital Command Center system established in the city, which was established when it shifted back to general community quarantine (GCQ), this had still not addressed the problem on the limited number of Southern Philippines Medical Center s (SPMC s) intensive care unit (ICU) beds designated for Covid-19 patients.
Based on the SPMC s bed capacity data, the hospital had recorded a 100-percent bed occupancy in its 30 alloted ICU beds beginning December 30, 2020, until January 23, 2021. This was a bit decongested on January 8 to 10, and 14.