TWO hospitals in Mandaue City started inoculating their medical workers against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
Jake Ian Seno, officer-in-charge of the Mandaue City Hospital (MCH), and Merryl Marie Maunes, MCH’s chief nurse, were injected with CoronaVac, the vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd., along with 73 other medical workers of the hospital.
Seno and Maunes said they both didn’t have any second thoughts about getting vaccinated, adding that they were fully aware of its benefits.
In fact, Maunes said she was excited that she, her co-workers and her family would finally get protection against the disease.
As for Seno, he said he felt fine afterward aside from some pain on the injected site.
At the Chong Hua Hospital (CHH) Mandaue, Dr. Faith Villanueva, head of the CHH’s Covid-19 Vaccination Task Force, said they target to vaccinate 269 medical workers.
As of 10:30 a.m., she said 120 medical workers were already vaccinated.
She said they can only accommodate 269 medical workers since they have only 269 vials left from their three-day vaccination at the CHH in Cebu City, which started on March 8.
Mayor Jonas Cortes is thankful the vaccination has started in hospitals in the city that cater to Covid-19 patients.
He said the City Government has prioritized the vaccination of medical workers, and encouraged city officials to wait for their turn.
He said when his turn comes, he won’t mind what vaccine brand he’ll be injected with.
Sinovac’s vaccine was donated by the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, Cortes told SunStar Cebu that CHH Mandaue has offered the use of its lower ground parking lot for the City’s mass vaccination site.
The mass vaccination will take place once all medical frontliners are vaccinated, he said.
Cortes said the parking area can accommodate up to 2,000 vaccine recipients a day. He said the area is strategic since it’s near the entrance of the emergency room in case anyone has a severe reaction to the injection.
The mayor said CHH Mandaue medical workers will assist during the mass vaccination as part of the hospital’s corporate social responsibility.
With more Covid-19 vaccines arriving in Central Visayas, more private hospitals in Cebu City have also started with their vaccination program.
The St. Vincent General Hospital (SVGH) in Cebu City started its inoculation program for its health care workers on Thursday.
For the next two days, the hospital plans to inject 197 workers, or 60 to 75 percent of its workforce, with CoronaVac.
Jacob Dolino, SVGH infection control and prevention officer, said the vaccination is not mandatory and their health care workers have the option to wait for their preferred vaccine brand.
He said they were allocated a total of 394 doses of the Sinovac vaccine, which they received on Wednesday, March 10.
Dr. Reginita Uy, SVGH chief of clinics, said they are still open to more doctors and employees changing their minds and deciding to receive the Sinovac vaccine.
“Sometimes, people, when they see someone else who get it and then they’re okay and no side effects and everything, they will probably volunteer to get it,” she said.
Uy, a 56-year-old diabetic and cancer survivor, was injected with CoronaVac on Monday.
“This is my fourth day after inoculation and I feel fine. As doctors, we recommend that the best vaccine for you, unless there is an absolute contraindication, is the first one that you can get because the earlier you get vaccinated, the earlier you get protected,” she said.
With the aggressive rollout of the vaccination program in the medical sector, the business community in Cebu has high hopes that this will raise public confidence and will soon translate to more economic activity.
Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Felix Taguiam said he hopes economic frontliners will get vaccinated after the medical and other priority groups.
“With the arrival of whatever brand of vaccine, we are encouraging everyone to be vaccinated according to priorities set by our government. What is important is the more people get vaccinated, the more we feel safe from everyone we meet,” he said.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Steven Yu said the recent vaccine rollout in both public and private hospitals is a great confidence booster in the business sector.
“In fact, the resistance to vaccination has greatly reduced because of this. More people are now willing to be vaccinated with any brand of vaccine approved by the government. The best vaccine is the vaccine available now,” he said.
In Metro Manila, it was learned that Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Debold Sinas has tested positive for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Ildebrand Usana confirmed the test result on Thursday, but said Sinas was “okay” and asymptomatic. (KFD, WBS, JOB WITH SUNSTAR PHILIPPINES)