CEBU CITY—Only one government official was inoculated with the vaccine donated by the Chinese government at the start of the Covid-19 vaccination drive for medical front-liners in this city on Thursday.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson for the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas, said all 7,200 doses that arrived in Cebu on March 2 were intended for health-care workers at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the city’s largest public hospital.
“Not yet for nonhealth-care [officials],” she said.
Cebu City is the first area outside Metro Manila to start its vaccination drive for medical front-liners. Another vaccination priority area, Davao City, will start on Friday.
As chief implementer of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Visayas, Melquiades Feliciano was allowed to receive CoronaVac, the vaccine brand manufactured by the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, at VSMMC.
Feliciano said he wanted to show people that the China-made vaccine was safe.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino, VSMMC medical chief, was the first to receive the shot in Cebu City on Thursday. At least 50 local health officials, including Loreche and other VSMMC staff members, followed Aquino.
Of the 2,987 health-care workers at VSMMC, at least 1,246 have registered for the vaccination program.
Rollout
In Bicol region, the vaccination of more than 5,000 health workers in four government hospitals in Albay and Camarines Sur provinces will start on Friday and is expected to be completed after a week.
Dr. Ferchito Avelino, DOH assistant regional director, said the 12,000 doses of the vaccine, packed in 13 containers, arrived at the Legazpi City airport on Thursday morning.
In Mimaropa region, Palawan province will receive its share of 4,800 doses of CoronaVac on Friday, while the City of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro will get its allocation on Sunday.
In Mindanao, Cagayan de Oro City will start its vaccination drive on Friday following the arrival of 8,700 doses at Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental on Thursday. —WITH REPORTS FROM MAR ARGUELLES, ROMAR MIRANDA, MADONNA VIROLA AND DIVINA SUSON