COVID-19 vaccination operations have resumed in various parts of Bohol and were being carried out even in evacuations centers as the province continued to reel from the destruction caused by Typhoon Odette.

Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) spokesperson Dr. Yul Lopez on Thursday said at least 20 towns resumed their vaccination drives as early as December 20 while inoculation operations at the Bohol Island State University also restarted after the storm swept through the province on December 16.

According to Lopez, vaccines were pulled out from municipalities prior to the typhoon’s arrival and were kept in a cold storage facility in Tagbilaran City which was powered by a generator set.

However, a “few hundreds” of vaccine doses particularly in the town of Loboc were damaged after the riverside town was inundated with floodwater.

“Hundreds lang ang nadaot na bakuna kay as early as three days before the typhoon, nihatag na ko og advisory sa mga lungsod na ipang deposito tanan diri ang mga bakuna so safe ra siya,” said Lopez.

As of Thursday, Bohol had an inventory of 290,304 vaccine doses from various drugmakers.

According to Lopez, the vaccinations carried out after the storm were mostly second and booster jabs.

He explained that inoculation of first doses need constant relay of data to national authorities which could not be done at the moment due to damaged communication facilities in the province.

“We focused on the second doses and boosters kay maglisod ta  sa first because for that we need connectivity with Manila sa second and booster pwede og mano-mano lang,” said Lopez.

According to Lopez, Buenavista, Carmen, Clarin, Dagohoy, Pilar, and Sagbayan were among the municipalities noted to have launched vaccinations at evacuation centers.

“Although evacuation center sila, pero willing and able ang mga doctors and nurses to conduct vaccinations,” said Lopez.