Over 3,000 Manila health workers get COVID-19 vaccine, says mayor

Rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive at the Sta. Ana Hospital. Image from the Facebook of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 3,047 health workers in the City of Manila have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 during the first week of the inoculation drive, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said Wednesday.

“Three-thousand forty-seven in one week. We are very happy for them. I am excited. Actually mas excited ako para sa kanila (I am more excited than them). How I wish I can be vaccinated with any type of vaccine,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel when asked about the number of medical frontliners in the city who have already been inoculated against COVID-19.

On March 1, a total of 3,000 doses of the CoronaVac vaccine from Sinovac were turned over to the Manila City government. Moreno said that on top of this, an additional 1,500 doses of CoronaVac were also later provided to the local government unit (LGU).

He added that the national government has also provided 1,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, enough to vaccinate 500 people, to the LGU.

Meanwhile, Moreno also expressed hope that the AstraZeneca vaccines procured by LGUs through tripartite agreements will arrive in the country in June.

In January, the Manila City government had closed a deal for the acquisition of 800,000 COVID-19 vaccines under a tripartite agreement with the national government and AstraZeneca.

EDV