BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines arrived in Bacolod Tuesday to boost the ongoing vaccination drive of the city government, deputy for medical and data analysis, Dr. Chris Sorongon, of the Emergency Operations Center said yesterday.
Sorongon said among the vaccines that arrived were 10,000 doses of the China-made Sinovac purchased by the national government, and 3,600 doses of the British-Swedish AstraZeneca that is part of the 650,000 doses purchased by the city government using local funds.
Sorongon said these vaccines will be used to inoculate healthcare workers, persons with comorbidities, senior citizens, and indigent residents.
The latest vaccine delivery brought to 267,600 the total number of doses received, so far, by Bacolod since it started the vaccine rollout on March 5, EOC records show.
It added that nearly 200,000 Bacolodnons, out of the 422,000 targeted individuals, have been vaccinated using Moderna, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen jabs.
Sorongon said they will invite Mayor Evelio Leonardia to witness the inoculation of the 200,000th vaccine recipient, adding that they are gunning for a hundred percent vaccination.
Leonardia said, “The vaccination drive is necessary as we are racing against time and the more inoculations we do, the more our chances that we can fight off the pandemic.”
He told the public, especially those who tend to choose their brand of vaccine, that all jabs, regardless of brand, are effective and could save people from the worst effects of Covid-19.
VALLACAR TRANSIT LAUDED
Leonardia also lauded the Vallacar Transit for lending a bus to support the mobile vaccination program of the city, adding that the firm has committed to lend additional buses to inoculate more of those in the marginalized sectors, especially in far-flung areas.
Several vendors were also inoculated yesterday through the mobile vaccination program at the Burgos, Estefania, and Villamonte markets.*
