PROTECTION. A senior citizen in Tacloban City receives a coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine. At least 40,943 frontline workers and 1,600 senior citizens in Eastern Visayas have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines as of Monday (April 26, 2021), the Department of Health said. (Photo courtesy of Tacloban city government)
TACLOBAN CITY – At least 40,943 frontline workers and 1,600 senior citizens in Eastern Visayas have been inoculated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines as of Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) said.
Those vaccinated include all the region’s hospital personnel and the majority of frontline health services providers.
Since March, the region has received the shipment of 80,450 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including 66,450 doses of Sinovac and 14,000 doses of AstraZeneca.
“The arrival of vaccines has been helping our goal to step up the vaccination program especially those on the priority list. In Tacloban City, they have already started giving vaccines to senior citizens. We are still waiting for reports from other local governments,” Malibago said in a phone interview.
The Health department asked senior citizens, those 60 years old and above, to register with their local government units for them to be included in the immunization against Covid-19.
The region has 82,047 health workers in the public and private sectors listed on the priority list for vaccination categorized as group A (hospital workers) and group A1.
Those in the A1 group are all employees of provincial health offices and provincial DOH offices regardless of employment status; Department of Education's health care workers assigned in health and nutrition sections; employees of disaster risk reduction management offices tasked to conduct swabbing, contact tracing, and emergency transport of patients; and social workers providing social amelioration and direct services to the public.
As of April 20, the DOH reported 1,782 cases of adverse effects following immunization, including 730 classified as mild, 10 as serious, and one as severe.
The most common symptoms include fever, chills, headache, high blood pressure, dizziness, and pain and swelling around the injection site.
“The number of those with adverse events is just a small fraction compared to the total number of persons vaccinated. We ensure that all those who experience adverse effects are properly monitored,” Malibago added.
As of April 26, Eastern Visayas recorded 17,693 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 16,886 recoveries and 270 deaths. The region's total active cases number 537. (PNA)
