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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider COVID survivor Abalos gets Sinovac jab

COVID survivor Abalos gets Sinovac jab

Published Mar 1, 2021 03:25 pm

From coronavirus disease (COVID-19) victim, to survivor, to Sinovac vaccinee.

MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos (Photo via MMDA)

This describes what Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos had to go through the past several months, culminating in what should be the end of his personal nightmare Monday, March 1, after he was inoculated from the dreaded disease.

Abalos was vaccinated with CoronaVac from China-based drug maker Sinovac Biotech at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) along with PGH director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. and other medical frontliners.

It was July 2020 when Abalos, a former Mandaluyong City mayor, contracted COVID-19 along with his parents.

The MMDA chairman said that he volunteered to get vaccinated to ease the public’s anxiety over the COVID vaccines. He also said that the death of his mother last month inspired him to get inoculated.

He also cited Sinovac’s methodology and efficacy rate as the main reasons why he volunteered to get the jab.

Abalos also urged the public to get vaccinated with whatever their choice of vaccine brand is, underscoring the significance of achieving herd immunity. “Don’t let yourself remain unvaccinated. The more individuals who will be inoculated, the earlier our fight against this disease will end," he said.

The MMDA has yet to roll out its vaccination program as it awaits the jabs it procured last year from British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The agency has 8,000 personnel.

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