Two frontliners who were among the first to be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country shared their experience after receiving the Sinovac jab.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that he did not feel any adverse reactions.
"Until now, wala naman akong nararamdaman kahit yung injection site nga eh, hindi naman sya masakit. Wala naman akong nararamdaman na soreness at systemic symptoms like lagnat, pamimigat ng katawan (Until now, I haven't felt (any pain) even on the injection site. It doesn't hurt. I don't feel any soreness and systemic symptoms like fever, body pain)," he said during the Laging Handa press briefing on Monday, March 1.
Domingo said that he will still need to monitor himself "for the next 24 hours."
"Ang galing po nung nurse namin sa PGH (Philippine General Hospital), ni hindi ko po naramdaman yung injection (Our nurse at PGH was good, I didn't even feel the injection)," he said.
"Wala akong ibang karamdaman kaya 15 minutes lang ang monitoring sa akin tapos chineck nila yung BP (blood pressure) ko, tiningnan nila kung may lagnat, wala naman. So pinauwi na ko (I have no other illness so they only monitored me for 15 minutes and then they checked my BP, they checked if I have a fever, there's none. So I was instructed to go home)," he added.
Domingo received the Sinovac vaccine at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) together with infectious disease expert Dr. Edsel Salvana, and PGH Director Gerardo Legaspi.
Dr. Eileen Aniceto, the first recipient of the Sinovac vaccine at the Lung Center of Philippines in Quezon City, praised Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III in administering the vaccine to her.
“Magaan ang kamay ni Dr. Duque, (The hand of Dr. Duque is light),” she told reporters.
After she received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Aniceto is ready again to attend to her patients' needs.
“Magtratrabaho na ako (I’m going to work),” said Aniceto as she laughed.