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About 3,135 health workers in two hospitals in Bacolod City will be the first recipients of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines that are expected to arrive tomorrow or Friday, a Department of Health official said today, March 3.Dr. Jane Juanico, head of the DOH Infectious Disease Section in Western Visayas, said 3,200 vials of the Sinovac vaccines will arrive for the health workers of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital and Riverside Medical Center.Only the health frontliners of the two hospitals will be the initial recipients of the vaccines, none has been allocated for the rest of Negros Occidental yet, she said.“Our order of prioritization is our COVID referral facilities, specifically level 3 DOH, LGU and private hospitals,” Juanico said.The vaccination ...

The Negros Occidental COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force convenes.*Richard Malihan photoThe Negros Occidental COVID-19 Vaccination Task Force convened at the Capitol in Bacolod City this afternoon, March 3, to finalize preparations for the vaccine roll out.The provincial government COVID-19 vaccination dry run will be held in Murcia town, instead of Cadoni, on March 12, Provincial Administrator Rayfrado Diaz said.The task force meeting presided by Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson was held to finalize the composition of its sub-committees, Diaz said.Task force members were also briefed on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.Infectious disease control experts from the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital explained the reason why the vaccination should be done, Diaz...

Rennier Araco Jr photoAn alleged hitman botched the assassination of two businessmen at an eatery in Barangay Bagacay, Dumaguete City, Tuesday night, March 2.The would-be victims were identified by the police as Sandy Tinguha, 45, and Jason Ong, 36.Tinguha was sitting at an eatery when he was shot by the suspect, whose identity was not released by the police, but missed.The victim threw the chair at the suspect and escaped, the police report said.The suspect then chased and shot the second victim, Ong, but missed again.This prompted the witnesses to throw stones and stabbed the gunman to neutralize him, the police report added.They were also able to disarm the suspect, who was then shot and mauled by the bystanders.Five empty shells of a .45 caliber pistol w...

Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said today, March 3, that a win-win solution is being sought in response to the call of Capitol employees for the removal of Anabelle Palic as Provincial Human Resource Management Office (PHRMO) head.The officers and members of the Progressive Alliance of Capitol Employees, and job order and contract service workers, in a petition submitted to Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, are calling for the removal of Palic as PHRMO head for her alleged “tyrannical attitude, inhuman treatment and her being the cause of miseries of the lives of the provincial government workers”, PACE president Renelo Lastierre said.He said they are asking the governor to reassign Palic to another position so she cannot continue to oppress the provincial government employees....

Health frontliners at two Bacolod hospitals will be the first recipients of COVID-19 vaccines that are scheduled to arrive in Bacolod City Sunday, City Administrator Em Ang said today, March 2.The Department of Health has identified the frontliners at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital and Riverside Medical Center as the first recipients of the Sinovac vaccines that recently arrived from China, Ang, who is also Bacolod Emergency Operations Center executive director, said.The CLMMRH and RMC were chosen because they have been identified as primary hospitals for COVID-19 patients, she said.The 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines donated by China arrived in the Philippines on February 28.The DOH said 16,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines will be sent to West...

Capitol photoCommissioner Rowena Guanzon of the Commission on Elections is again calling on the Senate to pass an early voting law to reduce crowding on election day amid the COVID-19 pandemic.This will allow vulnerable groups to cast their votes ahead of the May 9, 2022 national elections, she said today, March 2.“Right now the law allows elections for only one day so we need a law that will allow early voting,” she said.Among those eyed for inclusion in the early voting law are senior citizens, persons with disabilities, health workers, military and police personnel, poll watchers, and the media, she said.She also stressed the need to aggressively vaccinate Filipinos against COVID-19 so they can safely register and vote.The pandemic has caused a very low voter reg...