CEBU CITY, March 11 (PIA) -- About 30,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arrived in this city on March 10.
Dr. Shelbay Blanco, Department of Health-7 medical officer, said there are 3,000 vials (10 doses per one vial) of AstraZeneca vaccine stored at the DOH's cold storage facility.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford.
It is administered in two doses, at 0.5 ml each, with an interval of 8 to 12 weeks.
Unopened multidose vials of this vaccine can last up to six months if stored, not frozen, at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.
While in use, the vaccines should be kept in temperatures between 2 and 25 degrees Celsius.
Blanco said these vaccines are still intended for healthcare workers especially those who are above 60 years old and even those who refused to be inoculated with the first batch of vaccines that arrived in Cebu City on March 2 which was the CoronaVac vaccine.
The CoronaVac vaccine was developed by China's Sinovac Biotech subsidiary Sinovac Life Sciences using inactivated Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Sinovac vaccine is given in two doses four weeks apart to clinically healthy individuals who are 18 to 59 years old.
Blanco added that once all healthcare workers are vaccinated, the next in the priority list would be the senior citizens, adults with comorbidities, uniformed personnel, other essential workers, and the indigents.
Group B composed of teachers, other government workers, and other essential workers are next on the list, while last would be the remaining population.
He said the DOH has yet to determine the number of doses to be allocated for both private and public hospitals since vaccination rollouts have just officially started.
"Hopefully, people will get themselves vaccinated. It is just one of the strategies in our battle. Hopefully with this one, makadungag sa atong batok (this would help in the fight) against the virus," he added.
Blanco reminds the public to adhere to the minimum health standards: wearing of face masks, hand washing, and physical distancing since this is one of the best preventive measures now that the vaccination rollout has started.
Meanwhile, the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) officially started the vaccination rollout on March 10.
CCMC Medical Director Dr. Anton Oliver Reposar II and hospital administrator Yvonne Cania received the first jab of the Sinovac vaccine along with 88 other medical frontliners.
Cania said, "Amo gipakita as a head of the hospital ang among kaisog sa pag-fight sa COVID pandemic karon nga nibalik nasad karon panahona. Lisud kung dili ka magpakita sa imong kaisog, unsa nalang ang bation sa ubang mga tao labi na ang mga trabahante sa CCMC (As head of the hospital, we have to show that we are strong in the fight against the COVID pandemic. If we don't show our bravery, how would the others feel especially our personnel at CCMC)."
"Amo sab gipakita sa among mga doctors ug nurses nga kami mismo ni Ma'am Yvonne gyud ang una matusokan aning vaccine. Para pud ma enganyo sila nga safe ra gyud ni nga vaccine," Reposar added. (idc/PIA7)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
0 Comments