MORE VACCINES FOR BACOLOD. Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr. (right), officer-in-charge of Bacolod City Health Office, and Dr. Chris Sorongon (left), medical deputy of the Emergency Operations Center, lead the inventory of the 15,000 vials of Sinovac’s CoronaVac jabs shipped by the national government on Wednesday (June 23, 2021). Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the arrival of additional vaccines will accelerate the momentum of the city’s vaccination program against Covid-19. (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY – A fresh batch of 25,000 vials of Sinovac’s CoronaVac jabs have been dispatched by the national government to this city and the province of Negros Occidental on Wednesday.
The shipment included 15,000 vials received by the City Health Office and the Emergency Operations Center here and 10,000 vials delivered to the Provincial Health Office, according to the Office of Civil Defense-Western Visayas.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the arrival of additional vaccines is good news since it will accelerate the momentum of the city’s vaccination program against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“We thank Department of Health-Western Visayas regional director Emilia Monicimpo for responding to our continuing requests for more vaccines,” he added.
The 15,000 doses are in addition to the 60,740 doses received by the city government since March. This brings to 75,740 doses of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines dispatched to Bacolod by the national government.
As of June 22, some 54,849 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to Bacolodnons.
Both Bacolod and Negros Occidental are still rolling out vaccines for the priority sectors under A1 (front-line health care workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (adults with comorbidities).
In Negros Occidental, the additional 10,000 doses of Sinovac were added to the 1,950 vials of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine equivalent to 11,700 doses received by the provincial government on June 17.
On June 15, Negros Occidental still had 13,000 doses of Sinovac, and these were subsequently utilized during the simultaneous vaccination rollout in all 31 cities and municipalities, which began on June 17.
The provincial government will start the five-day rollout of Pfizer vaccines on June 28 only in two sites -- Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City and Negros Residences in Bacolod City -- in consideration of the special storage requirement of the US-made jabs. (PNA)
