COVID-19 vaccination starts today

MANILA, Philippines, March 1 ------ The country will finally start today COVID-19 vaccinations. Key Cabinet officials and local executives will be inoculated in public with CoronaVac, developed by Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech, to overcome Filipinos’ vaccine hesitancy amid calls to have the jab reevaluated by an independent panel of experts.

President Duterte also wants to be vaccinated in public, according to Sen. Bong Go, who chairs the Senate committee on health. Duterte, however, is still awaiting the advice of his doctors on whether or not it is safe for him to be inoculated with CoronaVac, which officials from the Department of Health (DOH) said is not advisable for health workers and individuals over 59 years old. “(The arrival of vaccines) is just the start. We really need to do more. We need to accelerate the vaccination program in a safe, sure and secure manner,” Go told radio station dzBB yesterday.

“(The vaccination) will start with the frontliners, but they have a choice. If they don’t want Sinovac, at least AstraZeneca is there. And when they start getting vaccinated, confidence will follow,” he added, referring to vaccines made by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant that is to arrive this week through the COVAX facility of the World Health Organization (WHO). The senator said British Ambassador Daniel Pruce helped in facilitating the arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines. Go added that the issuance of the emergency use authority (EUA) to CoronaVac by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was fast-tracked given the urgent need for vaccines.

Simultaneous “symbolic vaccination” will be held in various hospitals in Metro Manila starting at 9 a.m. today. National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., along with presidential spokesman Harry Roque, FDA director general Eric Domingo, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benhur Abalos, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and DOH assistant regional director Maria Paz Corrales, is expected to be vaccinated at the University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will be inoculated at the Lung Center of the Philippines. Joining him are MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and DOH regional director Corazon Flores. COVID-19 response deputy implementer Vince Dizon, along with Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan, MMDA chief of staff Michael Salalima and Health Assistant Secretary Elmer Punzalan, will be vaccinated at the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center and Sanitarium. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and DOH director Napoleon Arevalo will lead a similar activity at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

An hour later, two other ceremonial vaccinations will be held at the Philippine National Police General Hospital, led by Interior Undersecretary Bernardo Florece and PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas, and at V. Luna Medical Center, led by Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Cirilito Sobejana and surgeon general Nelson Pecache. Go disclosed that Galvez and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III are expected to visit Serum Institute of India soon to fast-track the procurement of at least a million doses of Novavax.

The senator added that Duterte had given instructions that Novavax be distributed to major public hospitals throughout the country, and that the priority list of recipients – frontliners, senior citizens and indigents – be followed. Go said he also had asked Galvez to also prioritize members of media, who are considered frontliners. Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, urged the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to fast-track its review and recommendation on the use of the China-made vaccines.

“Like those in PGH, we want more science-based information on vaccines that will be administered to us. We want the most effective and the safest vaccine for all our fellow Filipinos,” Pangilinan said, as he called on Dr. Marita Reyes of the HTAC to keep true to her promise of not allowing politics to interfere and to make her decision soonest. The senator backed the call of the PGH Physicians’ Association seeking appraisal of CoronaVac “to facilitate individually informed decision-making” before it is administered to the population.

Source: philstar.com