Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso again urged frontline health workers to get vaccinated as the capital city received a new batch of COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
Domagoso on Wednesday (March 17) announced that 1,870 vials of Sinovac vaccines and 1,000 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines were turned over to the city government.
The vaccines were immediately deployed to Sta. Ana Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, where the vaccine rollout for frontline health workers resumed on Thursday (March 18).
"Ako'y nananawagan sa mga doctors, nurses, other medical frontliners, and other employees who are also involved in medical frontlines. Huwag na kayong maghintay nang maghintay. Sayang ang pagkakataon. Ulit: first come, first served. Ang mabisang bakuna ay ang bakunang nasa braso n'yo (I am calling on doctors, nurses, other medical frontliners, and other employees who are also involved in medical frontlines. Stop waiting around. The chance will be wasted. Again: first come, first served. The effective vaccine is the vaccine injected in your arm)," he said in a live broadcast on Facebook on Wednesday.
"Ang ating mga kababayan na hindi galing sa medical field ay gustong-gusto nang magpabakuna. Ngunit hindi pa rin pwedeng bakunahan ang ibang tao na katulad ko na hindi involved sa medical frontlines. So, kayong mga medical frontliners, grab the opportunity while supplies last. Sayang ang pagkakataon (Our countrymen who are not in the medical field badly want to get vaccinated. But some people like me who are not part of the medical frontlines cannot get vaccinated yet. So, you medical frontliners, grab the opportunity while supplies last. It will be a waste if you don't)," he added.
The Manila mayor said even more frontline health workers have been infected with COVID-19 amid the recent spike in cases in Metro Manila.
Citing data from the Manila Health Department (MHD), he said at least 102 frontline health workers have contracted COVID-19 from March 1 to 17. Of this number, 92 have not been vaccinated while 10 were vaccinated.
Domagoso said the 10 vaccinated health workers are "doing well so far."
The local chief executive said that once medical frontliners from the city's six district hospitals are vaccinated, frontliners from private medical facilities are also welcome to avail of the free COVID-19 vaccines being given by the City of Manila.
After covering the priority sectors, that includes senior citizens and members of vulnerable groups, uniformed personnel, and public school teachers, the city government will proceed with the vaccination of those who pre-registered for the vaccine.
Over 103,000 Manila residents have pre-registered for the vaccine at manilacovid19vaccine.com as of Thursday.
A number of the city's barangay health workers had also gotten vaccinated through the efforts of Philippine General Hospital (PGH) director Dr. Gerardo "Gap" Legaspi, Domagoso said.