ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Health-Zamboanga Peninsula (DOH-9) launched Monday the Pfizer bivalent coronavirus-2019 (Covid-19) vaccination for health workers at the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC).
Several senior citizens were also vaccinated alongside ZCMC workers.
Dr. Joshua Brillantes, DOH-9 director, said they are targeting to vaccinate 17,014 health workers and 17,634 senior citizens in the region.
At least 1,960 vials of the Pfizer vaccines are set for distribution to different public hospitals in the region, he said.
To qualify for bivalent vaccines, health workers and senior citizens must have received their primary and two booster doses.
“Now we have this defense through this vaccination; we want all our health workers to be boosted given the protection as they attend to our patients,” Brillantes said in an interview.
A single bivalent vial can be used to vaccinate six persons. It is effective for the original Covid-19 strain and the Delta variant.
Dr. Kelly Geronimo of the ZCMC Health Emergency Management Staff, a beneficiary of the vaccine, underscored the importance of the jabs, noting that medical workers are continuously exposed to the virus.
“We still accommodate Covid-19 patients, so it's imperative that we also protect ourselves,” she said. (PNA)
