MASS VACCINATION against the deadly Covid-19 disease continues in Zamboanga City with health workers getting the bulk of the Chinese vaccine Sinovac.
Some 14,400 vials of vaccines arrived here recently. It was the 3rd batch of anti-Covid vaccines sent by the Department of Health (DOH) intended for frontliners in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Mayor Beng Climaco, head of the local Covid-19 task force, said the vaccines are intended for the first and second dose of all healthcare workers. She thanked the national government and the DOH for making Zamboanga City among the priority areas for the vaccination program.
Climaco, along with DOH Director Dr. Joshua Brillantes and Interior City Director Ginagene Uy and other health officials welcomed the arrival of the vaccines at the local airport last week.
Last month, some 10,200 Sinovac vaccines arrived here for some 5,100 medical frontliners from different hospitals and health stations in Zamboanga Peninsula.
The vaccines are part of the 600,000 doses donated by Beijing to the Philippines.
At least 6,000 health workers who are Covid frontliners in Zamboanga City have been included in the initial master list of the local government’s vaccination program.
City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite said that vaccination sites for health frontliners will be in hospitals and health centers, while other priority groups will have a different site for their vaccinations.
The local government’s vaccination program, according to Climaco, will prioritize not only healthcare workers, but also essential and other frontline service providers, and vulnerable populations such as the elderly and poor.
Climaco encouraged residents to get themselves inoculated as soon as the vaccines are available for all as an added protection and to help reduce transmission, reduce deaths and morbidity and ultimately help restore the economy. “Este vaccines para de ustedes contra Covid. No mas tiene miedo porcausa este buen para de atun todo,” she said.
The mayor, who already signed a $2 million (or roughly P100 million) deal with the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, said local government’s vaccination program will cover 694,696 residents or 70% of the projected 2021 population of 992,423 inhabitants.
The initial P200 million for the purchase of the vaccines are included in the P4.38-billion 2021 Executive Budget of the local government, according to Climaco, who is also a member of the Committee on Vaccine Availment of the League of Cities of the Philippines.
Climaco said the local government will allocate P100 million more for additional Covid vaccines following talks with US-based Johnson & Johnson.
Dr. Augusto Alpichi, of the Department of Health, said the Chinese vaccine was recommended by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and approved by the Food and Drug Authority.
The country also received some 487,200 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, a global initiative to support equitable access to vaccines. (Zamboanga Post)
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