By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia over the weekend received his first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Bacolod City Government Center.

Leonardia’s vaccination came after an advisory from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Operations Center allowing local chief executives (LCEs) in areas deemed critical and high risk to be inoculated.

The advisory dated April 5 of this year specifically stated that if a locality becomes high or critical risk as determined by the Department of Health, LCEs of the said localities shall be qualified for inoculation.

Prior to being vaccinated, Leonardia underwent pre-vaccination screening wherein his vitals such as temperature and blood pressure were checked by a health worker.

After which, the city mayor was sent to the vaccination area. Dr. Edwin Miraflor, Jr., officer-in-charge of the City Health Office, administered the mayor’s vaccine.

Following the vaccination, Leonardia was handed over to the post-vaccination observation area where he sat down for at least 30 minutes while health workers again monitored his vital signs and checked if he got any side effects from the vaccine.

The mayor, however, did not feel any side effects from the vaccine and he was released from the post-vaccination area after 30 minutes.

He hopes that his vaccination will also help encourage the city’s residents, who may still have lingering doubts, to also get vaccinated once the vaccines formally become available to the general public.

Leonardia is set to receive his second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine after eight weeks./DGB, WDJ