ILOILO City – Healthcare personnel in Western Visayas started rolling up their sleeves for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine from China’s biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech.
“This is it,” said Dr. Emilia Monicimpo, director of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 6.
“Kampante ako sa mga vaccines kay ini nakaagi sa aton mga experts. So ako excited and nalipay gid. Amo na ‘ni,” she added.
A total of 16,800 Sinovac shots arrived in the region yesterday.
“Very hopeful and happy gid kita kay ari na ang sabat,” said Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, head of DOH-6’s infectious disease cluster. “It’s really a milestone nga naga-start na kita vaccination.”
Some 6,300 Sinovac vaccines were delivered in Bacolod City yesterday via the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City, Negros Occidental and 10,500 in Iloilo via the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan town.
These vaccines are good for 8,400 healthcare personnel of the region’s six COVID-19 referral hospitals, Juanico said.
These are the vaccine allocations based on the number of the hospitals’ employees:
* Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City – 2,224
* Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City – 1,642
* St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo – 1,500
* Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (Riverside Medical Center) in Bacolod City – 1,493
* West Visayas State University Medical Center in Iloilo City – 1,153
* Iloilo Doctors’ Hospital – 426
“This is not only for our protection but our contribution to the global community nga mapa-untat naton ang COVID-19 pandemic,” Juanico said.
In Bacolod City, five medical doctors and a nurse – the region’s first recipients – received the Sinovac vaccine during a ceremonial vaccination.
They were doctors Miguel Sarabia (ophthalmologist and president of the Negros Occidental Medical Society), Hector Gayares (chief executive officer of the Adventist International Healthcare System Philippines), Dolores Rommela Tiples-Ruiz (infectious disease specialist), Radela Yvonne Ramos-Cortes (internal medicine physician), and Carlos Javier Primicias Jr. (pediatrician); and nurse Valerie Villarosa-Sarabia.
Dr. Edwin Miraflor, acting head of the Bacolod City Health Office, said the remaining doses will be distributed to other hospitals in the city.
SINOVAC VACCINATION IN ILOILO CITY
Monicimpo and Civil Defense director Jose Roberto Nuñez of the Western Visayas Regional Vaccine Operations Center for COVID-19 welcomed the arrival of the vaccines in Iloilo.
Twenty-two hospital workers were inoculated during a ceremonial vaccination at St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo (SPHI). These included nine doctors, six nurses, three Catholic nuns, one medical technologist, one housekeeper, one physical therapist, and one clinical secretary – the city’s first recipients of the Sinovac jabs.
According to Dr. Ella Mae Divinagracia, infectious disease specialist of SPHI, these personnel voluntarily submitted themselves for inoculation.
Prior to vaccination, participants signed a registration form and had their vital signs checked.
They were then monitored for 30 minutes after inoculation for any adverse effects. None was recorded so far.
The hospital received 400 vials of the vaccine, said Divinagracia.
The SPHI originally reserved some 1,500 doses for the vaccination of its healthcare workers and their families, but only around 400 confirmed their willingness to be vaccinated so far.
Divinagracia also described the ceremonial vaccination as significant because “we were the first institution who had a number of doctors who got infected.”
“In a way this also adds to our protection along with the minimum public health standards,” she added.
Dr. Maria Sylvia Teresa de Pili, 52, chairman of SPHI Internal Medicine, was the first healthcare worker to receive the Sinovac vaccine in SPHI.
She shared her experience after getting the anti-coronavirus shot.
“Nothing (side effects) so far. Daw wala lang gid. Just like any other vaccine,” she said, adding she had long decided to get the vaccine.
“I’m always in the hospital so every time I go home, siempre may worry ako basi bitbit ko gid ang virus so with this (vaccination), maprotektahan ko gid sila (family members),” she added.
De Pili is also encouraging healthcare workers to have themselves vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Submit yourself for immunization as well to protect your family and community,” de Pili stressed.
OTHER HOSPITALS
DOH-6 also advised the priority hospitals to inoculate their staff within two to seven days upon the vaccines’ arrival to their respective facilities.
In the case of hospitals in Bacolod City, they are set to roll-out their vaccination on Sunday, March 7 until March 11, according to the City Health Office there.
The remaining hospitals, meanwhile, will likely start their vaccination on Monday, March 8.
“We are instructed to vaccinate within two to seven days but siempre may vaccine hesitancy pa kita especially sa mga brands so, we are short-listing other hospitals para mahatagan sang bakuna naton,” Juanico added.
Meanwhile, Nuñez is thankful to President Rodrigo Duterte for the arrival of the vaccines.
“Malaking bagay para sa mga frontliners natin na mabigyan ng vaccines para tuloy-tuloy ang kanilang trabaho and hindi na sila matakot,” Nuñez said.
The OCD director added that he is willing to be among the first to be vaccinated if given the chance.
Based on DOH’s memorandum 2021-009, priority populations include frontline healthcare workers, followed by the elderly, adults with co-morbidities, other frontline personnel in essential sectors, and indigent citizens./PN
