A BACOLOD City official on Thursday, March 18, 2021, said key people from AstraZeneca in the Philippines and United Kingdom (UK) assured them that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.
This came after some countries suspended their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipients.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF), said on Wednesday, they held a zoom meeting with key people from AstraZeneca in the Philippines and in the UK where the latter presented to them their research data and findings.
“They showed to us their research data and findings that all of these particular concerns about AstraZeneca, assuring us that AstraZeneca is safe. That case (blood clots etc.) that has been seen in their research data, that’s only one in a million cases so relatively it’s safe. So it’s rare that it happened,” he said.
He added they are happy that in Bacolod City, the medical frontliners who already received their first doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines only noted very minor adverse effects such as localize rashes, which was resolved after 15 minutes, and some experiencing high blood pressure due to excitement after the vaccination.
On Monday, they already completed the first rollout of Sinovac vaccine with 2,350 medical frontliners inoculated.
Last week, Bacolod City received a total of 156 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine from the national government that were distributed to Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Riverside Medical Center, Bacolod Adventist Medical Center and The Doctor’s Hospital, Inc.
The 156 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine can accommodate a total of 1,560 recipients.
Aside from the AstraZeneca vaccine, Bacolod City also received on Saturday another 840 doses of Sinovac vaccine that will be used for medical frontliners assigned at isolation quarantine facilities, City Health Office, Barangay Health Workers, independent clinics and laboratories.
The AstraZeneca vaccine will be given to medical frontliners ages 60 years old and above.
“They should not fear because the vaccines are safe,” Sorongon said.
He said the medical frontliners who already received the first dose of the vaccine will get their second dose a month after.
He added the vaccines that were supplied by the national government were stored in the city’s cold room and are ready to be used for the second doses for medical frontliners.
Sorongon said the Department of Health-Western Visayas already secured complete doses of vaccines for medical frontliners.