Mayors to respect health workers’ vaccine choice

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila mayors will respect the decision of healthcare workers of hospitals in their jurisdictions who may refuse to be vaccinated with China-made vaccines, Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said yesterday.

Teodoro said the Metro Manila Council would ensure that their right to refuse would be guaranteed “without prejudice to their eligibility to receive the next available vaccines.”

“We talked about the possibility of health workers who may refuse Sinovac because we have been hearing about their inclination toward receiving AstraZeneca vaccine, which has a higher efficacy rate,” he said.

Only five out of 2,000 health workers who signed up for inoculation have backed out from receiving Sinovac’s CoronaVac, according to Teodoro.

“Here in our hospital, to be honest, we have about 2,000 health workers who are scheduled to be vaccinated. These are the people who gave their consent. At the last minute, five backed out,” he said.

About 70 percent of health workers in Marikina have signified their intention to be inoculated with CoronaVac.

The city government prepared a substitution list to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines would not go to waste due to backouts since the vaccine could only last up to five hours once diluted, Teodoro added.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) urged health workers to consider being inoculated with Sinovac vaccines.

MMDA chief of staff Michael Salalima said the Food and Drug Administration would not grant an emergency use authorization for Sinovac “if it did not go through the technical panel of experts.”

“It is important for the health workers to understand that their roles in the fight against COVID-19 are being recognized. The vaccines are limited and it would be good for health workers to be inoculated since they are the government’s priority,” he said. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva