MANILA, Philippines — San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora is volunteering to be the first San Juaneño to get vaccinated against new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, in order to boost his constituents’ trust and confidence in the jabs.
Zamora wrote Health Secretary Francisco Duque to convey his intentions to volunteer as the first recipient of the vaccine in his city despite knowing of the government’s rule giving priority to health workers in its vaccination program.
“The undersigned [Zamora] wishes to seek your approval in allowing this representation to be the first person to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine in the City of San Juan. We very well understand that there is a prioritization list as identified by the IATF, on top of which are the health care workers and medical frontliners,” his letter to Duque reads.
“However, the undersigned [Zamora] is volunteering in order to increase the trust and confidence of our citizens in the vaccination process and to encourage them to have themselves inoculated as well.”
Zamora added that he is positive that his action would “convince more people to get vaccinated” and increase the number of vaccine registrants in his city before the actual rollout of the drug.
To date, 23,200 individuals, composed of 19,500 residents and 3,700 health care workers, have registered for San Juan City’s vaccination program.
The national government has released a list of priority groups for its mass vaccination scheme, which includes health workers, senior citizens, the indigent population, uniformed personnel, and other vulnerable groups.
Initial doses of Covid-19 vaccines may be expected to arrive in the country next week, according to the government.
The health department has also identified hospitals, which medical front liners will first receive jabs made by American drugmaker Pfizer.