San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora is set to get his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, April 16, a month after he recovered from the dreaded disease.
(Photo from Mayor Francisco Zamora Facebook page / FILE PHOTO)
He will get his first Sinovac jab after he was given the go signal by his infectious disease doctor Paul Salandanan, Secretary Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19; and Gloria Balboa, Department of Health (DOH) National Capital Region director.
This came after the DOH announced that recovered COVID-19 patients are no longer required to wait for 90 days before getting the vaccine.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) also allowed mayors in high-risk areas to get vaccinated.
Previously, a recovered patient needs to wait for three months before getting inoculated.
Zamora, who tested positive for COVID-19 on March 1, recovered from the disease on March 15.
The mayor hopes that his vaccination would help boost the confidence of San Juan residents in their vaccination program.
"This will help us protect ourselves, our families and our communities from this pandemic,” Zamora said.
As of 3 p.m. of April 15, 53,560 San Juaneños have registered in the city’s vaccination program or 62.72 percent of the target population of 85,400 to achieve herd immunity.