Three days after the Manila city government rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination drive, over a thousand health workers have already been vaccinated, the city mayor said.
Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said 1,034 health workers of the Manila city government have been vaccinated with CoronaVac, the vaccine made by Chinese bio-pharmaceutical company Sinovac as of 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 4.
On March 1, the City of Manila received 3,000 doses of the CoronaVac vaccine, enough for 1,500 people. The city government has been targeting to vaccinate 200 people per day.
"Natutuwa po ako sapagkat mabilis ang paglago ng pagbabakuna dahil unti-unti na malalagay sa tama ang pagiisip ng ating mga kababayan (I am glad that the vaccine is being rolled out quickly because gradually, our fellow countrymen are starting to get in the right mindset)," Domagoso said in a live broadcast on Facebook.
The Manila mayor said they have also started vaccinating health workers from private hospitals in the capital city.
"As I said before, and as a matter of commitment of the city government, yayakapin natin ang lahat (we will embrace everyone), as much as possible," he said.
Domagoso said the city government's supply of COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac is expected to run out "in a day or two."
He encouraged health workers who are on top of the city government's priority list, to get vaccinated because it is uncertain when the Manila city government will get another supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
He also reiterated his desire to get vaccinated with the Chinese made vaccine amid concerns of its varying levels of efficacy, but said inoculating health workers is their top priority.
"Ako, gustong-gusto ko na po magpabakuna, sa totoo lamang, pero ayokong pagkaitan ang ating mga kababayan na nasa medical frontline ng kahit isang bakuna (Honestly speaking, I really want to get vaccinated, but I do not want to keep even one dose from our countrymen who are in the medical frontlines)," he said.
The Philippines received a donation of 600,000 CoronaVac vaccines from China on Feb. 28.