The Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) confirmed yesterday that around 7,000 doses of anti-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines from Sinovac Biotech have been allocated to the city.

Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical, said that half of the vaccine allocation will arrive in the city on Sunday, March 7, and the remaining 3,500 will be delivered later.

Sorongon added that the vaccines, which are part of China’s donation to the Philippine government, will be turned over immediately to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) and Riverside Medical Center (RMC).

Healthcare workers from CLMMRH and RMC, classified as level 3 hospitals, are the first ones to get vaccine shots, Sorongon said.

On Tuesday, March 2, Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, head of DOH-6’s infectious disease cluster, already confirmed that Western Visayas will be getting part of the Sinovac vaccines.

Juanico said that Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City is eyed as priority for Sinovac vaccination, along with CLMMRH.

Western Visayas has more or less 27,000 healthcare workers. However, a recent survey showed that only 50 to 60 percent were willing to be vaccinated, according to Juanico./WDJ