Manila gets 3k doses of Sputnik vax
MANILA Mayor Isko Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna received on Monday 3,000 doses of Russian-made Sputnik (Gamaleya) vaccine against COVID-19, with a call for those belonging to the A1 category composed of doctors, nurses and other health frontliners who have not gotten vaccinated to get their jabs already.
Moreno said the city government will deploy the vaccines as soon as it gets the go signal from the Department of Health (DOH), even as he thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. for the vaccine allotment given to Manila.
Also part of the receiving party were Manila Health Department chief Dr. Arnold Pangan and Sta. Ana Hospital Director Dr. Grace Padilla, who immediately effected the transfer of the said doses in the designated storage facility located right within the said hospital.
Moreno said that based on the priority list set by the national government, the city of Manila will go back to the same steps which is first vaccinating those belonging to the A1 category before moving on to the next.
According to Moreno, some from the A1 category remain unvaccinated either because they are waiting for their preferred brand or were infected with COVID.
The Sputnik doses, he said, have a 91.6 percent efficicacy and on deployment, they have to be used at once due to special handling requirements once they are removed from the storage facility, ‘kaya kailangan confirmed na darating ka.’
The mayor added that the new vaccines may be used for those aged 18 and above. So far, Moreno said about 120,000 individuals have been vaccinated in the city with around 54,000 having been able to get the full dose already.
“This is another opportunity for our doctors, nurses and other health personnel involved in handling COVID to get extra protection kasi ipa-prioritize sila ulit,” Moreno said.
It was learned that the deployment of the Sputnik doses will be done at the Sta. Ana Hospital and at the Ospital ng Maynila under Director Karl Oliver Laqui.
