HEALTHCARE workers in private hospitals were inoculated Tuesday, March 9, 2021, of the Sinovac vaccine donated by China after their counterparts in public health were vaccinated last week.
The Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas has allocated vaccines to various private hospitals in Cebu.
Chong Hua Hospital (CHH) started its vaccination on March 8, 2021 while Cebu Doctors' University Hospital and Perpetual Succour Hospital started vaccinating their health workers on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
Dr. Potenciano "Yong" Larrazabal III, President and Chairman of the Board, received the first dose of CoronaVac (Sinovac) vaccine to kick off the vaccination roll out in CebuDoc Group and to boost the confidence of CebuDoc Group Healthcare workers in the vaccine.
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The CebuDoc Group has started its vaccination program against Covid-19 on its healthcare workers Tuesday, March 9, 2021, with a ceremonial vaccination held at CebuDoc Group Vaccination Center located at the Medical Arts Building 1, Parking Area.
“The pandemic is getting closer and closer to us. I believe it is just a matter of days that our loved ones or staff may get infected. So vaccination is the way to go if we want to attain herd immunity. That is why I advise our family, the CebuDoc Group, to please join this activity. I believe the best vaccine is the first vaccine on hand, and I am here to prove that as I receive the first vaccine today," said Larrazbal.
For the first batch, 1,460 healthcare workers of the CebuDoc Group are expected to get vaccinated from March 9 to 12, 2021 and will receive their second dose after a month.
"This is just the beginning. Once all our frontliners are already inoculated, we also hope to roll out our supplementary vaccination for our family members. We will also be extending assistance to the different LGUs in Cebu for the vaccination of the Cebuanos," Larrazabal added.
The CebuDoc Group received a total of 2,923 vials from the Department of Health on its first batch of rollout which will cover two doses for each of the healthcare workers.
Meanwhile, CHH had been allocated more than 3,500 doses of Sinovac by DOH 7 and already started the initial roll out on March 8, 2021, with 160 frontliners vaccinated. The vaccination on frontliners continues today, Tuesday March 9.
Around 70 percent of the CHH staff, including doctors, nurses, maintenance, security, and other support staff, agreed to be vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine.
Dr. Faith Villanueva, an infectious disease specialist and the head of CHH's Head of Covid-19 vaccination task group, described the turnout as a positive response and a boost of confidence in the country's ongoing nationwide vaccination program.
CHH is among the level 3 hospitals in Cebu City that are given the priority to have their workers be vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine.
Healthcare workers in Perpetual Succour Hospital were also inoculated Tuesday.
Workers of the University of Cebu Medical Center (UCMed), Visayas Community Medical Center, and Southwestern University Medical Center will be included in the next vaccinations.
READ MORE: Nearly 150,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine distributed to regions
A total of 7,200 doses of the Sinovac vaccine arrived in Cebu City on March 2, 2021.
On March 5, a total of 17,480 doses were distributed to Cebu. This is the second batch of vaccines distributed to the city. (JOB/With RSR/MVG)