LUCENA CITY –– The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination rollout will start in Quezon province on Thursday, March 11, for health workers at the government-run Quezon Medical Center (QMC).
Dr. Rolando Padre, QMC director, said the Department of Health (DOH) delivered 895 doses of CoronaVac, produced by Sinovac Biotech Ltd., on March 9.
Around 1,460 health workers at the said hospital are eligible to receive the vaccine, Padre said.
The latest list rose to 905 after his initial survey a few days ago, which registered 817 vaccine recipients, he said.
“Maybe, they realized that they have everything to gain and very little to lose once they take the chance,” Padre said.
He noted that most of the reasons of those against the vaccine were the fear of side effects and the controversy behind Sinovac.
“But I think they already noted that lots of their fellow health and medical workers in Manila have received the vaccine and there were no reported major side effects,” he said.
Less than a hundred frontliners at the QMC, who are “senior citizens,” will not be injected with Sinovac.
“We’ve already ordered AstraZeneca vaccines for them,” he said.
The next batch of vaccines for the second dose will be delivered to QMC within 28 days.
Gov. Danilo Suarez and Dr. Eduardo Janairo, Department of Health- Calabarzon director, will witness the ceremonial vaccination at QMC,
The DOH has allocated 1,686 doses of Sinovac vaccines for Quezon province.
The vaccines will be distributed to the Quezon Medical Center in Lucena (1,461), Maria L. Eleazar General Hospital in Tagkawayan (71), and Claro M. Recto Memorial District Hospital in Infanta (154).
Janet Geneblazo, Quezon public information officer, said the ceremonial vaccination rollouts in Tagkawayan and Infanta hospitals have yet to be set.
Quezon, which is under the modified general community quarantine, has recorded 7,360 COVID-19 cases, 6,944 recoveries, and 264 fatalities as of March 10, according to the Integrated Provincial Health Office.
The province still has 152 active cases.