More health frontliners in Bacolod City were vaccinated with Sinovac vaccines at the Bacolod City Government Center Sunday, March 7, as a surge in the virus was reported in Metro Manila.
“We are urging the public not to be complacent with the initial arrival of the vaccines and to continue to practice minimum health protocols,” said City Administrator Em Ang, who is also the executive director of the Bacolod Emergency Operations Center.
Among the 24 more frontliners vaccinated today were 19 doctors, two nurses, one medical technician, and two other health workers, Ang said.
“We want to send a strong message to the community that these doctors, who care for your good health, affirm that the vaccines are safe and we need to avail of them,” said Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical and data analysis, said.
Psychiatrist Dr. Jocelyn Gayares and Dr. Raymond Wong, medical consultants at the Riverside Medical Center Inc. (RMCI), were among those who were vaccinated Sunday.
“The doctors and specialists who were vaccinated during our first and second rollout are safe. They’re okay and they have no problem at all, so why should we be afraid?” Sorongon said.
On Friday, March 5, five doctors and a nurse were the first to be vaccinated with Sinovac vaccines in the city, and Monday, March 8, the mass vaccination of health frontliners at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) and RMCI in Bacolod will start, Ang said.
The Department of Health on Friday sent 6,300 doses of Sinovac vaccines to Bacolod City good for 3,150 health frontliners.
CLMMRH has availed of 1,600 doses for 800 frontliners and RMCI – 1,200 doses for 600 of its staff, Ang said.
That means the vaccines can still cover 1,750 more health frontliners from the five other hospitals and the City Health Office in Bacolod on their substitution list, she said.
Those who have signed up to be vaccinated from the Adventist Medical Center-Bacolod are 148, The Doctors’ Hospital – 98, Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital – 120, South Bacolod General Hospital – 297, and Metro Bacolod Hospital and Medical Center – 58.
The staff of the City Health Office will also be vaccinated after all those who signed up from the hospitals are covered, Ang said.
The Sinovac vaccines cannot be administered on persons who are 60 years and above so doctors, nurses, and health workers in that age bracket have been excluded, she said.*