Western Visayas yesterday received 10,000 doses of British-made AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from the national government which will be allotted for senior health workers.
“I-prioritize naton ang mga health workers nga senior citizens na, above 60 years old kay sa Sinovac this is only for 18 to 59 years old. So ang mga more than 59 years old, amo na ang aton i-prioritize for the allocation sang AstraZeneca vaccines,” said Dr. Ma. Sophia Pulmones, head of the Local Health Support Division of the Department of Health 6 (DOH-6) and manager of the Regional Vaccination Operations Centre (RVOC).
Aside from the AstraZeneca, the region also received the second batch of China-made Sinovac vaccines yesterday.
“Ang 16,880 doses sang Sinovac vaccine para na siya sa second dose sang mga vaccine recipients. And then may ara kita nga nag-abot man nga 1,000 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines that is good for 10,000 doses, first and second dose na ina siya ya,” Pulmones said.
The RVOC manager then urged that recipient COVID-19 referral hospitals to finish giving out the first dose of Sinovac vaccine within this week.
The second dose, meanwhile, should be administered after the 28-day interval.
To recall, the first batch of Sinovac vaccines with a total of 16,880 doses arrived in Western Visayas last March 5.
As of March 9, or since the rollout, there are a total of 1,634 health workers in the region who have so far been inoculated.
These health workers are from the Western Visayas Medical Center, West Visayas State University Medical Center, St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo, and Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital in Iloilo City; and the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (Riverside Medical Center), The Doctor’s Hospital, Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital, and South Bacolod General Hospital in Bacolod City.
From Level 3 hospitals, the next in line as priority which are given access to the vaccines are levels 1 and 2 hospitals, infirmary and quarantine and isolation facilities.
Level 1 hospitals are those with minimum healthcare services, Level 2 are those that offer extra facilities like intensive care unit and specialist doctors while Level 3 hospitals have training programs for doctors, rehabilitation, dialysis units, among others./WDJ