Vaccination in Cebu City stalled anew as 9,000 doses run out quickly

CEBU, Philippines — Vaccination for the first dose against COVID-19 in Cebu City is stalled anew after the 9,000 doses of Sinovac that arrived in the first week of May ran out quickly.

By midday on Monday, May 10, the city had to send at least 200 senior citizens home.

“More than 200 seniors ang nabalibaran today,” said Cebu City Health Office chief Jeffrey Ibones yesterday.

The 9,000 doses that came from the national government were administered to senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.

The city decided to also start inoculating those in the A3 priority group or persons with comorbidities starting on May 5. So far, 2,000 in this group have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Ibones said senior citizens remain the priority for now. More than 10,000 senior citizens have been vaccinated in Cebu City.

At least 35,000 seniors have registered on the city’s online portal with more than 20,000 giving vaccination a “yes.” A registrant also has the option to indicate if he or she is undecided.

Meanwhile, almost 40,000 persons with comorbidities have registered, most of them saying “yes” to vaccination.

Ibones said vaccine availability will help encourage more residents to get vaccinated.

“Ari tingali ta sa vaccine availability kay daghan kaayo ta’g magpabakuna, wa ta’y vaccine. Mag-ampo ta nga maabtan ta’g daghang bakuna kay once the vaccine will come, padayon na gyud ta makabakuna. Daghan na tingali ang ma-vaccinan kay nakita nato, daghan man gyud ang niari (in the vaccination site),” Ibones said.

As of May 10, the city has no idea just yet how many doses it will receive from the new batch of 2 million AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived in the country.

“Hopefully, maabtan gyud ta'g daghan-daghan ana, pero sa ako nang giingon, the 2 million will not be in Cebu City alone. Unya, ang ihatag sa DOH-7 is not for Cebu City alone pud... Makita man gyud nato nga daghan kaayo ang nagpabakuna. I hope the Department of Health will consider that also,” Ibones said.

The city’s three vaccination sites at the University of Cebu- Banilad, Robinsons Galleria, and SM Seaside can cater to 2,000 persons a day.

“Willing and able kaayo ang atoang mga vaccinator, atong mga tawo. Mao bitaw na ang usa ka rason nga wala pa sad mi mo-open og mga sites kay mag-open ta’g sites nga wa’y vaccine,” Ibones said.

Second Dose

In a related development, Ibones reminded residents who have already received the first dose not to miss the second dose of the vaccine.

The city is now administering the second dose for those in the A1 priority group or frontliners. This will run until May 12, 2021. Vaccination for the second dose for the A2 priority group or seniors will start on May 17.

“Importante kaayo ang second dose kay diha nga dose sa second, anha na mo-react ang imohang lawas to form the antibodies against the virus... Although sa first dose, naa may gamay antibodies nga ma-form pero ari gyud sa second dose mo-develop gyud ang antibodies against the virus,” Ibones explained.

“Kung dili makatunga, follow-upon nganong wala sila makatunga. Naa man sila’y mga cell number,” he said.

The city’s Vaccine Advisory Board (VAB) reminded those who are up for the second dose to wait until they receive a text message from CEBUCITYVAX on their schedule.

The second dose will be given at the venue where the first dose was given. Recipients will have to bring a valid ID and their Vax Card.

Regional View

Department of Health (DOH)-7 spokesperson and chief pathologist, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, announced that a total of 1,682 companies have been accredited to join the Project Balik Buhay (PBB). These companies comprise 96,799 employees from the private sector that have registered for vaccination.

The PBB vaccination initiative is part of the national government vaccination program intended for employed/corporate sector in Cebu. 

This is a public-private partnership upon the request of OPAV, IATF-Visayas and DOH-7 to help augment the capacity of the government vaccination centers – to vaccinate more people faster.

Loreche said a total of 90,785 out of the 135,421 eligible healthcare workers in Central Visayas have received the first dose as of May 9, 2021. This means, there are still 44,636 healthcare workers in the region that have not been inoculated.

On the other hand, a total of 18,706 out of 586,231 senior citizens have been vaccinated. At least 567,525 others are due for vaccination. 

Of the 18,706 senior citizens, 10,026 are in Cebu City; 4,127 are in Cebu Province; 1,740 are in Lapu-Lapu City; 1,783 are in Mandaue City; 56 are in Negros Oriental; and 974 are in Siquijor. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, JMO (FREEMAN)