PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's former wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, received her first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine on Monday, May 17, 2021.
This was confirmed by Zimmerman's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in a radio interview on the same day.
Zimmerman, 73, was among the senior citizens vaccinated with the Chinese vaccine Sinovac's CoronaVac at the Matina Aplaya Elementary School in Barangay Matina Aplaya, the mayor said.
Duterte-Carpio said her mother was supposed to be vaccinated on Friday, May 14, but was rescheduled due to the Tropical Storm "Crising."
She said her mother had recurred fears over the weekend, but was relieved after finally getting her first dose.
"Okey raman siya. Na-relieve siya sa iyahang gibati nga kahadlok (She is okay. She was relieved from the nervousness she felt)," the mayor said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Davao City has started its vaccine rollout to Priority Group A2 or senior citizens ages 60 years old and above on May 11.
The city has already enlisted more than 90,000 seniors waiting to be vaccinated.
Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, declined to comment if she is planning to get vaccinated.
This after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has signed Resolution 115-B that allows local chief executives (LCEs) in the country to register for the Covid-19 vaccination as they are now included in the Priority A1 list regardless of their risk classification.
Resolution 115-B states that all governors and city and municipal mayors or all local chief executives are now under the Priority Group A1.5 of the priority population groups for Covid-19 vaccines, regardless of the risk classification of their respective local government units (LGUs).
Meanwhile, her father, President Duterte, received his first dose of a Sinopharm vaccine Covid-19 on Monday evening, May 3.
Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III personally administered the vaccine to the President.
Duterte, later on, apologized for receiving a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 and asked the Chinese ambassador to withdraw the vaccine.
The Sinopharm inactivated vaccine is not yet approved for emergency use in the Philippines, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had issued a compassionate special permit (CSP) to the Presidential Security Group (PSG) for 10,000 doses.
He said his doctor had recommended that he get the Sinopharm vaccine, which was also administered to “all Chinese officials.”
Duterte did not name his doctor. (With reports from SunStar Philippines)