An official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) revealed on Wednesday, March 3, that he did not feel any side effects after being inoculated with the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccine Sinovac in Pasay City.

And for DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya who was vaccinated on March 2, this would help convince doubters to get the Chinese-made Sinovac vaccine.

In the program Usapang Lokal which he co-hosts over ABS-CBN, Malaya said he acceded to erase doubts over questions about Sinovac’s safety and efficacy.

"There should be no cause for concern as the dose (Sinovac) is safe. Although there may be some side effects for some, this is normal because all antidotes for the virus have side effects. Overall, the benefit is to prevent serious illnesses caused by COVID-19," said Malaya.

The only thing he felt, according to Malaya, was a feverish feeling similar to what he regularly experience whenever he gets a dose of flu vaccine.

But he said a check on his body temperature revealed that he had no fever.

In the same program, Malaya said that around 100 health workers were vaccinated at the Pasay General Hospital on March 2 but more were inoculated the following day.

Tricycle driver Horacio Templo of Marilao, Bulacan said that Malaya’s revelation eased his worries and is now inkling towards being vaccinated even with Sinovac.

“(Medyo hindi na ako gaanong kabado ngayon tungkol sa kaligtasan ng bakuna ng mapanood at marinig ko pahayag ni Malaya sa TV. Kailangan kung kumayod para may mapakain sa pamilya ko kaya kung may bakunang hindi makakasama magpapaturok na ako (I am a bit less worried now with regards to the safety of the vaccine when I watched Malaya and heard his explanation on TV. I need to work to feed my family so if the (COVID-19) vaccine will cause no harm then I might as well be injected,’’ Templo said.

“Yung mga mainpluwensyang tao pwedeng magpaturok sa harap ng publiko. Ang tanong na mananatili sa isip ko ay kung tunay na vaccine ang tinurok sa kanila o tubig lamang. Walang ordinaryong tao ang makapagsasabi niyan (Influential people including politicians may allow themselves to be injected in full public view. But the question that remains in my mind is if the dose is indeed the said (COVID19) vaccine or plain water. No ordinary person can tell that),’’

The Department of Health (DOH) and the DILG are currently launching a massive information drive to encourage the public to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 dose that is currently available in the country.