Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Saturday, April 24, disclosed that he has received his first dose of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.
The 75-year-old senator said in an interview over radio DWIZ that he registered and lined up for inoculation in San Juan City. He was administered a dose of the vaccine from British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca last April 10.
He praised San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora for the "orderly" process of vaccinations in the city.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak last year, Drilon has been attending Senate hearings and sessions via teleconference due to his age. He was also implanted with a pacemaker to help regulate his heartbeat.
Senior citizens and persons with comorbities are among the priority sectors in the government's nationwide vaccination program, coming next to health frontliners.
Drilon said he did not experience any side effect after he was first injected with the vaccine. He allayed the concerns of the public about getting inoculated.
"Dapat magpabakuna po sila kung anuman ang available. Ang risk na may side effect far outweighs the risk na baka madisgrasya tayo dahil sa pandemya (People should have themselves vaccinated whatever vaccine is available. The risk of any side effect far outweighs the risk that we would end up ill because of the pandemic)," he said.
As of April 20, 1,353,107 Filipinos have been vaccinated since the government started rolling out it vaccine program in March. They consist of health care workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbities.
The Department of Health said that for AstraZeneca's vaccine, the second dose may be taken four to 12 weeks after the first dose, while Sinovac's vaccine is taken 28 days apart.