Mayor Isko Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna discuss the vaccine rollout during meeting with health personnel.Photo by JERRY S. TAN
Only 8,400 out of 1M doses of Sinovac allotted to Manila
ONLY 8,400 doses of the Sinovac vaccine out of the one million that have arrived in the country have been allotted to the city government of Manila.
This was learned from Mayor Isko Moreno, who said that the latest allocation, which is good for 4,200 individuals, were used up in a matter of six hours.
Moreno made the explanation amid questions from residents who wanted to know when the next Sinovac rollout would be.
“Wala muna tayong bakunahan ng first dose… ang binigay po sa Maynila is 8,400 doses good for 4,200 individuals. We’re just stating facts here… whatever reason they have, I don’t know dahil ‘yan pong bakuna na ‘yan ay galing sa national government,” the mayor said.
“So 8,400 doses out of one million na dumating sa bansa sa loob ng dalawang linggo. Be that as it may, ‘yung 2,400 ay ating naiturok in less than one day kaya ubos na ulit. Ang natitira sa atin ay ang second dose ng nagdaang panahon,” he added.
Meanwhile, Moreno said the city government will give it two to three more days for those belonging to the A1 category, meaning doctors, nurses and other health or medical frontliners, to have themselves vaccinated as the rollout of the Sputnik V (Gamaleya) continued on Wednesday.
Only 141 availed of the said vaccine at the Sta. Ana Hospital on Tuesday. The city government received 3,000 doses of Sputnik which is good for 1,500 individuals.
If the turnout remains low, Moreno said the city will have to move to the vaccination of those belonging to the A2 and A3 categories, or senior citizens and persons aged 18-59 with comorbidities.
Moreno said that the Russian-made vaccine poses a lot of challenges in terms of handling.
“Pagkagaling ng storage, pag-deploy tutunawin pa. Natural maghihintay ng ilang minuto kaya mabagal ang bakunahan sa Gamaleya. Mabagal ang sistema,” he said, adding that those behind the vaccination program are taking real good care of the doses to ensure nothing goes to waste.
“We have to be really careful kasi ayokong me masasayang. Bawat isang dose, may buhay na umaasa but kanina, proud ako sa aming mga vaccinating team dahil naigapang nang maayos. Nagpunta pa nga si Secretary duque to observe,” Moreno added.
