The Manila city government rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination drive using the Russian Sputnik V vaccine on Tuesday (May 4).
The city received 3,000 Sputnik V ampules developed by Gamaleya Institute on Monday (May 3).
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III joined Manila Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan and Manila Health Department (MHD) chief Arnold "Poks" Pangan during the ceremonial vaccination activity at the Sta. Ana Hospital.
In a Facebook post, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said nearly 200 frontline health workers have been inoculated as of 12 noon on Tuesday.
He had earlier said that the city will prioritize vaccinating frontline health workers using the Sputnik V vaccine before moving on to other priority groups, such as senior citizens and people with comorbidities.
"Ngayong naririto po ang bakuna, ipagpapatuloy po natin ang pagtutulungan hanggang sa tuluyang masugpo ang COVID-19 (Now that the vaccine is here, let us continue to work together until we eliminate COVID-19)," his post read.
The Philippines received a batch of 15,000 Sputnik V vaccine doses on May 1.
The Manila city government has been using vaccines developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac and British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to inoculate its constituents against COVID-19.
Data from the city government showed that as of Tuesday, at least 79,697 frontline health workers, senior citizens, and people with comorbidities have been vaccinated. Of this figure, 25,364 are fully vaccinated after having received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
At least 329,317 people have also pre-registered for vaccination at manilacovid19vaccine.ph.