Manila completes 1st dose vax rollout for front-liners

MANILA – The city government of Manila has completed the vaccination of 1,499 medical front-liners on Friday with the full allocation of the jabs given to the city by the national government.

Manila received a total of 3,000 doses of the China-made CoronaVax vaccine, which is good for 1,500 individuals.

However, Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso reported that they found one CoronaVac vial already broken when they opened the box. The incident was already reported to the Department of Health (DOH).

Since the city started its Covid-19 vaccination drive on Tuesday, Domagoso was happy to announce that no adverse reactions on vaccine recipients have been reported yet.

“Apat na araw lamang ay nailunsad natin ng maayos ang vaccination rollout. Salamat sa Diyos, its been four days wala pang napaulat na masamang epekto sa mga nabakunahan na ng Sinovac. Alam kong yan ang ipinag-aalala nyo (In four days, we were able to efficiently rollout our vaccination program. Thanks to God, it’s been four days and nobody has reported any adverse reaction from the Sinovac vaccine. I know that is your worry),” Domagoso said.

Domagoso also thanked the Manila Health Department and all the medical front-liners who cooperated for the successful Covid-19 vaccination rollout.

He said that he was happy for those who opted to receive the Sinovac vaccines.

Medical front-liners who decided late on receiving the China-made vaccine now that the allotted doses for Manila have been consumed will have to wait for the next vaccination schedule.

Despite his previous commitment that he will get himself vaccinated publicly with the CoronaVac jabs, Domagoso said he respects and will continue to follow the national government’s vaccination priority policy.

Domagoso explained that Manila’s Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan got vaccinated with the CoronaVac despite being a politician because she is a front-liner, being a medical doctor.

Meanwhile, Domagoso assured that the remaining 1,500 doses of the Sinovac vaccines are properly stored.

“Yung natitirang 1,500 ay nakatabi sa ating storage facility para sa second dose ng vaccine after 28 days sa mga nabigyan na (The remaining 1,500 are in our storage facility for the second dose after 28 days for those who have received their first dose),” said Domagoso.

Domagoso meanwhile encourages the general public to pre-register for the Covid-19 vaccine via manilacovid19vaccine.com to make the Manila vaccination plan more efficient in case the AstraZeneca vaccines procured by the city government arrive by the second or third quarter of the year.