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CEBU CITY – Only one government official was inoculated with the vaccine donated by the Chinese government at the beginning of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign for front-line doctors in this city on Thursday.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson for the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas, said that the 7,200 doses that arrived in Cebu on March 2 were destined for health workers at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the largest medical center in the city. public hospital.
“Not yet for non-health care [officials],” she said.
Cebu City is the first area outside of Metro Manila to begin its vaccination campaign for frontline doctors. Another vaccination priority area, the city of Davao, will begin on Friday.
As lead implementer of the Interagency Task Force for the Visayas, Melquiades Feliciano was able to receive CoronaVac, the brand of vaccine manufactured by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, at VSMMC.
Feliciano said he wanted to show people that the vaccine made in China was safe.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino, VSMMC’s chief medical officer, was the first to receive the vaccine in Cebu City on Thursday. At least 50 local health officials, including Loreche and other VSMMC staff, followed Aquino.
Of the 2,987 healthcare workers at VSMMC, at least 1,246 have enrolled in the vaccination program.
Unroll
In the Bicol region, the vaccination of more than 5,000 health workers in four government hospitals in the Albay and Camarines Sur provinces will begin on Friday and is expected to be completed in a week.
Dr. Ferchito Avelino, DOH regional deputy director, said the 12,000 doses of the vaccine, packed in 13 containers, arrived at the Legazpi city airport on Thursday morning.
In the Mimaropa region, the province of Palawan will receive its share of 4,800 doses of CoronaVac on Friday, while the city of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro will receive its allocation on Sunday.
In Mindanao, the city of Cagayan de Oro will begin its vaccination campaign on Friday after the arrival of 8,700 doses at Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental on Thursday. —WITH REPORTS FROM MAR ARGUELLES, ROMAR MIRANDA, MADONNA VIROLA AND DIVINA SUSON
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