10,180 priority people got COVID shots in San Juan; 2nd dose to begin this week

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora. INQUIRER.net file photo / RYAN LEAGOGO

MANILA, Philippines — Over 10,100 individuals in San Juan City have so far received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, with the inoculation for their second shot to begin this week, city mayor Francis Zamora said Tuesday.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net’s INQside Look, Zamora said a total of 10,180 individuals have been given their first dose of COVID-19 shots.

Of this number, 4,455 are medical frontliners, 3,215 are persons with comorbidities, and 2,510 are senior citizens.

“Every single day except for Sundays, tayo ay nagbabakuna ng ating mamamayan. But note that dependent tayo sa supply ng bakuna,” Zamora said.

(We vaccinate our residents every single day except for Sundays. But note that we are dependent on the availability of the vaccine supply.)

“Puro first dose pa lang ‘yun. In fact, ‘yung second dose namin will start this week because we started our vaccination program around this time last month so ‘yung one month nila is up and they will now be informed that they have come back for their second dose already,” the city mayor added.

(That’s just the first dose. In fact, our vaccination for the second dose will start this week because we started our vaccination program around this time last month so the one month interval is up and they will now be informed that they have come back for their second dose already.)

Aside from the vaccines being provided by the national government, Zamora said the city government has also procured 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to cover 50,000 San Juan City residents. The vaccines are expected to arrive in July, said Zamora.

Once the AstraZeneca vaccines arrive, Zamora said the vaccination rollout in their city would be faster.

There are also funds available should the city government need to procure additional vaccines for their residents, said Zamora.

“As the months go by and may nakikita tayong brands na nagkakaroon ng EUA (emergency use authorization) and FDA (Food and Drug Authority) approval, may flexibility pa rin ang San Juan na magprocure ng ibang brand na makikita natin na nagagamit naman sa ibang bansa,” Zamora said.

(As the months go by and we see other brands secure an EUA and FDA approval, San Juan still has flexibility to procure other brands that we see are also being used in other countries.)

JPV