Health workers of 4 referral hospitals first to get COVID-19 vaccine shots — Galvez

MANILA, Philippines — Health workers from four Covid-19 referral hospitals in Metro Manila will be among the first to get inoculated with coronavirus vaccines, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Wednesday.

Once the expected vaccines arrive this month, Galvez said health workers of the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Lung Center of the Philippines and East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, and Dr. Jose Natalio Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center (Tala Hospital) in Caloocan City will get the first shots.

“Ang uunahin po natin yung apat na referral hospitals natin dito sa Metro Manila… Hindi na po tayo magtatagal, ang gagawin lang po natin, i-inspect-in lang po natin mga two to three days at ituturok na po natin agad yan,” Galvez said in a televised briefing.

(We will give it to four referral hospitals in Metro Manila… It won’t take long. We will just inspect it for two to three days after arrival, then we will conduct vaccinations immediately.)

After these four medical facilities, Galvez said the government will also inoculate the health workers of other Covid-19 referral hospitals in Metro Manila, Cebu City and Davao City.

The Philippines is expecting to receive at least 5.6 million doses of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca by the first quarter of this year.

Some 50,000 Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac are also expected to arrive this February.

EDV