AFP inoculates military health workers with Sinovac

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) started vaccinating its medical workers yesterday using donated Sinovac vaccines from China.

During the ceremonial vaccination at Camp Aguinaldo, Lt. Col. Jacquelyn Cloma, Maj. Francis Andrade and Maj. Richard Delgado were among the first to be inoculated.

At the Manila Naval Hospital, Col. Puralyn Epres led the vaccination of health workers from the Philippine Navy and Philippine Marines, while at the Army General Hospital in Fort Bonifacio, Lt. Col. Teresita Merioles led the inoculation of Philippine Army medical health workers.

At the Philippine Air Force General Hospital, Maj. Irene Abutas lead the vaccination of medical health workers of the Philippine Air Force.

“The target today is to vaccinate at least 30 medical health workers in each of the hospitals in the four camps,” AFP spokesman Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said.

“With the ongoing vaccine distribution and the attendant inoculation of our frontliners, the days ahead certainly look positive. These coming days bode well for all of us for we will certainly rise above the challenge,” AFP chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said.

Chinese donation

On Monday, the first doses of the Sinovac vaccine donated by the Chinese Ministry of Defense to the Department of National Defense were given to personnel of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center.

“The Chinese government has decided to offer vaccines to the Philippines in free assistance,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference in Beijing.

“Just as President Duterte put it, this demonstrates the two sides’ friendship and solidarity. We hope the Chinese vaccine doses could help the Philippines contain COVID-19, revive the economy and protect people’s health,” he added.

For his part, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called on critics of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program to stop politicizing the matter and stop spreading fake news about China’s Sinovac vaccines.

“Now is not the time to play doomsayer. Now is not the time for games. And most especially, now is not the time for politics. I don’t see any good coming out from spreading fake news or lies about the Sinovac vaccine,” Lorenzana said in a statement.  –  Pia Lee-Brago