Those who received the shot of the Sinovac vaccine on Monday, March 1 urged the public to do the same saying it will save lives.

"Ang hinihingi ko sa inyo na tanggapin natin kung ano ang bakuna na andiyan dahil ito po ay makakapagsalba ng buhay (I'm asking you to accept whatever vaccine is there because it can save lives),"  Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila, said in a press briefing at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila.
"The best vaccine is the vaccine in your arm," he added.
PGH Director Dr. Gap Legaspi, the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) shot on Monday, is even planning to recommend the vaccine to his own family.
"They are hyper allergic so I'll probably recommend this vaccine to them," he said.
Dr. Minguita Padilla, founder of private sector-led testing group Project ARK, said she took the shot to also encourage others to do the same.
"The people will not have the confidence to get vaccinated until they see the doctors...vaccinated," she said.
"I'm telling you many will now get vaccinated... because they saw us being vaccinated," added Padilla.
"Get it now. Don't wait anymore," she said.
Aside from the three, some government officials and health workers were also vaccinated at PGH.
The kickoff of the vaccination drive was held a day after the donated COVID-19 vaccines from China arrived in the country.