Ilocos Norte front-liners still wary of getting COVID-19 jabs, say execs

Health workers lead the vaccination simulation exercises in Ilocos Norte last month to prepare for the arrival of the province’s allocation of the CoronaVac brand of the vaccines this week. Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government

LAOAG CITY –– Some health workers in Ilocos Norte’s public hospitals were still hesitant to get inoculated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) even as initial doses were expected to arrive in the province this week, officials said Thursday.

Dr. Rhuel Bobis, COVID-19 focal person of the Department of Health in Ilocos, on Thursday, said the DOH in Ilocos would be receiving on Thursday, March 4, its share from the 600,000 doses of the CoronaVac vaccines donated by China.

The Inquirer learned that the vaccines allocated to Ilocos Norte’s three COVID-19 referral facilities, which have around 1,600 health workers, will be delivered on March 5.

These facilities are the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital (MMMH&MC)  in Batac City, the Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH), and the Gov. Roque B. Ablan Sr. Memorial Hospital (GRBASMH), according to Dr. Norman Rabago, provincial health consultant.

But even as the initial vaccines were to arrive this week, the willingness among health workers in public hospitals in the province to be inoculated with the CoronaVac remained low, said Rabago.

“The low acceptance rate among health workers could have been affected by the controversy surrounding the efficacy of the vaccine,” Rabago told the Inquirer.

Of the 306 health workers in GRBASMH, only 10 percent had initially registered for vaccination.

The number increased to 50 percent on March 3 after the provincial government intensified its information drive, according to Rabago.

In LCGH, only around 15 percent of its 237 health workers would want to be inoculated with CoronaVac vaccines, according to Rabago.

The result of an earlier survey at the MMMH&MC showed that the hospital was expecting nearly all of its 1,062 health workers to be vaccinated.

Another survey was held last week to determine the actual number of its health workers who would want to receive the CoronaVac jabs, but its result has yet to be released.

“We understand where the health workers are coming from, so we are trying to connect with them to give them a [scientific] basis in deciding,” Rabago said.

Rabago said he was expecting that the popularity of CoronaVac vaccines in Ilocos Norte would increase after health workers in Metro Manila started receiving the jabs on March 1.

LZB