Western Mindanao DOH exec volunteers to get ahead of the line in CoronaVac injection

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A ranking regional health official volunteered to queue to get injected with CoronaVac, the vaccine manufactured by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, to convince other health workers to trust the Chinese product when it becomes available in Western Mindanao.

The Philippines’ vaccination program started with the use of donated doses of CoronaVac which arrived from China on Sunday (Feb. 28).

The list of priority recipients placed health workers at the top.

“Sure, I will also receive this Sinovac,” said Dr. Joseph Brillantes, DOH Western Mindanao assistant director.

“This is a chance for us to be vaccinated,” he said.

“It’s better to have 50 percent efficacy than zero,” Brillantes said. “This is an opportunity where we can protect not just ourselves but also the people around us,” he said.

As the DOH rolled out the vaccination drive, many health workers are still hesitant to receive the Chinese vaccines.

Records at the city health office showed that more than 6,000 health workers in the city had registered for vaccination.

Brillantes, citing the DOH central office, said the vaccines were expected to be delivered in the city on March 7 and these would be immediately distributed to provinces and cities in the region for a simultaneous vaccination launch.

He cited DOH guidelines saying Metro Manila and the cities of Davao and Cebu were priorities in vaccine distribution.

Up to 100,000 doses would then be distributed to the rest of the country, Brillantes said.

The few vaccine doses that Western Mindanao would get, Brillantes said, would be given to COVID-19 referral hospitals.

He said there has been no practice yet for the arrival and transport of the vaccines to storage facilities.

TSB