Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said on Monday (March 8) the vaccination rollout in the city will resume after receiving the additional 3,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine.
"Ngayong alas otso ng umaga, mapalad uli ang lungsod ng Maynila sapagkat muli tayong nagkamit ng additional 3,000 na bakuna laban sa COVID (At 8:00 a.m. today, the city of Manila is blessed again because we received an additional 3,000 vaccines against COVID)," Domagoso said on Monday.
The 3,000 CoroVac vaccines are enough for 1,500 people as two doses of the vaccine are needed per individual.
Domagoso said the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Chinese bio-pharmaceutical company Sinovac spiked after intensive media campaign on "the best vaccine is the one that is available."
He added that the "most effective vaccine will be the vaccine on the arm of an individual."
"Sa Maynila, pwede kayong choosy, sa Maynila pwede kayo magpabakuna, pwedeng hindi. Ngunit, then again, kung ako ang tatanungin ninyo, ang mabisang bakuna ay ang bakunang nasa braso ninyo. Ang bakunang nasa bodega o nasa refrigerator ay walang bisa (In Manila you can be choosy, in Manila you can get vaccinated or not, but then again, if you ask me, the effective vaccine is the vaccine in your arm. The vaccine in the warehouse or in the refrigerator has no effect)," Domagoso said.
He called on the medical frontliners to not miss the opportunity of getting the vaccine.
Domagoso said that although infection is still possible even if a person gets vaccinated, the vaccine will still serve as an added protection against the deadly virus.
The city government targets to inoculate 200 people per day.
A total of 1,499 health workers of the Manila City government have been inoculated against COVID-19 as of Friday, March 5, four days after it started the vaccination rollout on March 2.