CEBU, Philippines — Over 200 of total registered healthcare workers in Cebu City are yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 since the city started its vaccination program on March 24, 2021 but the City Health Department is confident it can inoculate these workers within the week.
Medical frontliners belong to the topmost sector in the national government’s priority list in the vaccination program.
Cebu City, for its part, kicked off its own vaccination program from March 24 to 26 and continued vaccinating from March 29 to 30. All vaccines used, so far, have come from the national government.
Yesterday, April 5, 2021, the city vaccinated 105 more healthcare workers with the first dose of Sinovac. The China-made vaccine is recommended only for those between 18 to 59 years old.
CHD head, Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, said more wanted to get inoculated yesterday but the city has run out of vaccines. He is hopeful the next batch of vaccines will arrive this week.
“Hopefully, this week, makuha na nato ang ubang vaccines from DOH para mahuman na ang mga healthcare workers nato,” said Dr. Ibones.
At least 3,720 of the 6,100 healthcare workers that enlisted for vaccination in Cebu City have already received their first dose of vaccine. The numbers do not include those working at hospitals.
After healthcare workers, senior citizens or those with comorbidities will be next in line.
Ibones said subsequent schedules of vaccination, for now, will be dependent on the supply of vaccines from DOH.
“Mag-agad ra ta’s DOH,” Ibones said.
He said it is important that senior citizens and those with co-morbidities to register as early as now. They can register via https://mics.cebucity.gov.ph/vims/page/register.
DOH-7 spokesperson and chief pathologist, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, said DOH will wait for master lists from local government units on the number of eligible senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.
Loreche those in the A2 and A3 priority groups (senior citizens and 18 to 59 years old with comorbidities, respectively) will be vaccinated simultaneously once a new batch of vaccines will arrive in Cebu.
“Once the vaccination sites are ready, the master list is already submitted and vaccines arrive then we can do A2 and A3,” she said.REGION 7 SITUATION
On a regional level, Central Visayas still has a long way to go to finish vaccinating its 130,991 healthcare workers.
So far, as of April 2, 2021, only 65,283 healthcare workers have been vaccinated with the first dose, one month after vaccination started on March 4, 2021.
Of the 65,327 healthcare workers, 34,529 are in Cebu; 21,767 are in Bohol; 6,330 are in Negros Oriental; and 2,711 are in Siquijor.
In terms of vaccine allocation, a total of 61,944 doses have been allocated for Cebu; 39,210 for Bohol; 11,624 for Negros Oriental and 5,164 for Siquijor.
These provinces have 248 vaccination sites, majority of which are in Cebu with 110.
Loreche said healthcare workers have started receiving the second dose of vaccines starting Monday, April 5, including at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
Loreche; VSMMC Medical Center Chief, Dr. Gerardo Aquino, Jr.; the VSMMC Executive Committee; the chief of the Eversley Childs Sanitarium and General Hospital, Dr. Pythagoras Zerna; and the chief of the Saint Anthony Mother and Child Hospital, Dr. Juanito Tiu were also inoculated.
They were also the ones who led the first vaccination last month.
Side Effects
So far, Central Visayas have received a total of 119,760 doses of COVID-19 vaccines – 89, 760 doses for Sinovac and 30,000 doses of AstraZeneca.
Of the 65,283 healthcare workers, 38,444 were vaccinated with Sinovac and 26,839 were vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
Loreche said a total of 1,561 minor Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) cases have been reported. No serious effects have been reported, so far.
Common AEFI with Sinovac are vaccination site pain, headache, rash, and elevation of blood pressure. Common AEFI with AstraZeneca are fever, headache, body malaise, vaccination site pain, and chills.
At least 52 AEFI reports came from the elderly group – 45 from the 60 to 69 years old bracket and seven from the 70 to 79 years old bracket.
Among the elderly, the common adverse effects of Sinovac are dizziness, elevated blood pressure, vaccination site pain, malaise at the injection site, numbness at the injection site, rash, and palpitations. The common adverse effects of AstraZeneca are headache, elevated blood pressure, fever, muscle pain, and fatigue. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, Decemay P. Padilla, JMO (FREEMAN)