VAX PROGRAM. A nurse administers a Covid-19 vaccine on a person with comorbidity in Cebu City in this May 5 photo. DOH-7 chief pathologist Dr. Mary Jean Loreche on Thursday (May 27, 2021) urged the remaining medical front-liners master-listed under the A1 sector to immediately get the jabs to give way to other priority groups in the mass vaccination rollout. (Photo courtesy of Cebu City Hall PIO)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7 or Central Visayas on Thursday urged medical front-liners under the A1 priority list in the national vaccination program to get inoculated now as other sectors are awaiting their turn to get the jabs.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 chief pathologist and Covid-19 spokesperson, said as of the May 26 data, there remains 24 percent or more than 31,000 out the 131,781 eligible healthcare workers (HCWs) in the region who are yet to get their first dose and 43 percent for the second dose.
“It is our call to our (medical) front-liners who are (on) the master list, the 31,810 remaining eligible priority A1 to be vaccinated for first dose, and the 42,983 remaining priority A1 to be vaccinated for second dose as of May 26, palihog pabakuna na mo para makumpletop na ang atong A1 list (please get vaccinated to complete our A1 list),” she said in a press briefing.
The DOH-7 official said many residents in the region who are already on the master list have been inquiring regarding their turn to be vaccinated.
The agency has also corrected its earlier strategy of finishing inoculation for the medical front-liners (A1) and senior citizens (A2), pointing out the need to start vaccinating the A3 sector comprising persons with comorbidities, who are not HCWs and elderlies and are ready to get their jabs, she said.
Region 7 has a total of 594,444 eligible elderlies who are on the master list for the A2 priority. Of this number, only 52,463 or 9.5 percent have received the first and second doses as of May 26 data.
The A3 priority group in the region has a total of 120,566 eligible members and 18.8 percent of them have already been administered with the first dose and 8.9 percent with the second dose.
Meanwhile, Loreche reported that only nine vaccinees in Central Visayas who got the Pfizer jabs have complained of minor adverse events following immunization.
Three vaccinees complained of a headache after getting their first dose of the vaccine, while the others complained of either dizziness, itchiness, elevated blood pressure, or tachycardia, or heart rate of over 100 beats per minute. (PNA)
