AstraZeneca rollout begins; more doses expected to arrive today

The government’s immunization program against COVID-19 entered another phase yesterday with the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines in three hospitals, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

At a public briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a “ceremonial roll-out” was held at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center in San Juan, the Research Institute for Tropical

Medicine in Muntinlupa and the Ospital ng Parañaque in Parañaque City.

The first Philippine hospital to use AstraZeneca was Ospital ng Parañaque with city health officer

Dr. Olga Virtusio getting the first jab among the city’s health workers.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., who was at the Parañaque hospital, also announced that 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to arrive tonight.

Sen. Bong Go made the same announcement in a Viber message to reporters.

Virtusio, in an interview with reporters, said she readily had herself and other city health workers vaccinated “to really show the people that this is a very safe vaccine.”

Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said he is aiming to have some 4,000 health workers in the city inoculated against COVID-19.

According to Vergeire, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and other eligible recipients in the DOH would be vaccinated only after all health care workers (HCWs) in hospitals got their shots.

“The HCWs will be vaccinated first because they need it most,” she said.

In an interview with The STAR, Duque said some 3.4 million doses are required to vaccinate some 1.7 million HCWs in the country.

“Now we have some one million doses and if you divide that by 3.4 million, we have (vaccines for) 30 percent of health workers,” he maintained.

Duque added there is a need to be “more aggressive” in education and inoculation activities to encourage HCWs to get themselves protected against COVID-19.

Duque was at the Cardinal Santos Memorial Medical Center yesterday.

Vergeire noted AstraZeneca vaccines would now be used in the immunization program alongside Sinovac vaccines, which were launched last Monday.

She also said the number of HCWs who settled for vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac has increased over the past few days.

“We started with 700 vaccinees during the first day and after two days, it increased to 3,000 to 4,000 vaccinees,” she said, referring to health workers who agreed to be vaccinated with the Chinesemade vaccines.

Data show as of March 5, around 24,000 health workers have already been inoculated against COVID-19.

“There is still, what we call, refusal among our health care workers but what is good is that the uptake is increasing,” she said.

For National Immunization Technical

Advisory Group (NITAG) member Conky Lim-Quizon, immunization activities should be scaled up since Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines are already available in the country.

“We need (to vaccinate) as fast as possible and to inoculate as many as possible in order to get that herd immunity, at least even in the hospitals where they are. At least you can say they are protected,” she said in an interview with “The Chiefs” on OneNews.

The country is aiming to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity, a condition wherein even those unvaccinated become protected against the virus.

Quizon added the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines should be administered immediately, especially now that COVID-19 cases are on the rise.

Cases of the new South Africa and United Kingdom variants have also been detected in the Philippines.

“Everyday that you dilly-dally while the vaccines are here, for me, that is immoral. It can save lives so roll it out,” she maintained.

The Philippines received on Thursday its first shipment of 487,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility.