TACLOBAN CITY—All local governments in Eastern Visayas have already received vaccines for SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Jelyn Malibago, information officer of the Department of Health (DOH) in the region, said some health workers in the region had already received their second dose of the vaccine.
On Wednesday (April 14), at least 38,400 doses of vaccines for the region arrived.
With the arrival of the vaccines, the region, composed of the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar, now has over 80,450 doses of vaccines—both those made by the Chinese firm Sinovac and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Malibago said 23,471 health and frontline workers in different provinces in the region had received the first does while 3,607 had already received the second dose.
The provinces of Eastern Samar and Southern Leyte have yet to get their second doses though they have completed the first phase of the injection.
In Tacloban City, Mayor Alfred Romualdez has encouraged people to be vaccinated.
So far, 5,349 health and frontline workers have been injected with Coronavac, the vaccine made by Sinovac.
“Don’t be complacent,” said Romualdez, who had been infected with the virus.
“Even if you have received the vaccine, you can still get COVID-19. You still have to observe all the health protocols like wearing a face mask and face shield (and observe) social distancing,” he said.
Balangkayan town Mayor Allan Contado, president of the municipal mayors’ league in Eastern Samar, disclosed that the number of people, who wanted to be vaccinated in the province, remained low.
“They are afraid of the possible side effects,” he said.
The private sector in the region has taken a separate initiative by procuring their own vaccine supplies.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Eastern Visayas will procure vaccines made by the American firm Moderna, said Wilson Uy, the group’s regional governor.
Uy said that the group had linked up with its national chapter for the procurement of the vaccines.
“We will not force those who do not want to receive the vaccine,” he said.
Several private companies in Leyte have also planned to acquire their own supply of vaccines for their employees.
These included the Leyte II Electric Cooperative, a power utility based in this city, and the MacArthur Irons Sand Project Corp.
As of Thursday (April 15), the region has 60 new COVID-19 cases, bringing total cases since the start of the pandemic to 17,195. Eastern Visayas currently has 426 active cases with 257 deaths.