A TOTAL of 264 personnel of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) have been inoculated with the CoronaVac vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) since the hospital began its vaccination program on March 10, 2021.
CCMC Administrator Yvonne Cania said 529 doses of the vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. were allocated for CCMC personnel.
Cania said five personnel experienced slight rashes and slight itchiness, while those with asthma experienced difficulty in breathing. But they quickly recovered, she said.
“Na-resolve ra (The matter was resolved) even without oxygen. Puro ra mga (They were all) mild (reactions),” she said.
She said the Department of Health (DOH) 7 informed her that the CCMC may also receive doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Four hundred personnel of the CCMC, Cebu City Quarantine Center and Guba Hospital agreed to be inoculated.
There are around 800 doctors and nurses working in City-managed health care facilities.
The City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) started vaccinating personnel on March 12.
City Councilor Joel Garganera, EOC deputy chief implementer, said 300 EOC personnel registered to be inoculated with CoronaVac.
Members of the quick response team, the extraction team, contact tracers, swabbers and cluster heads have already been vaccinated.
Garganera was also inoculated with other EOC members to boost confidence public confidence in the China-made vaccine.
Personnel of the City Health Department (CHD) still await their vaccine allocation.
A total of 223 CHD personnel registered to get vaccinated.
In Mandaue City, more than 2,000 medical workers registered to be vaccinated.
The City’s Vaccine Board (VB) targets to vaccinate 3,000 medical workers.
Association of Barangay Councils president Ernie Manatad, VB chairman, told Sunstar Cebu they have an ongoing registration at private medical clinics, dental clinics, diagnostic laboratories, birth centers and in-house clinics of private establishments in the city.
He said barangays are also validating the number of senior citizens who will receive the vaccine, as the City has prioritized the elderly in its vaccination program.
Manatad said they will conduct a house-to-house campaign for effective dissemination of information. That way, they can answer questions and erase doubts about the vaccine, he said.
The most common concerns are vaccine efficacy and adverse effects, among others.
The Mandaue City Hospital started vaccinating medical workers on March 11.
Some private hospitals in the city like the Chong Hua Hospital and the University of Cebu Medical Center also started vaccinating their medical workers. (JJL, KFD)