Five days after the arrival of the Chinese-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines, Zamboanga Peninsula received more than 10,000 doses of CoronaVac – a fraction of the 600,000 doses donated by the Chinese government – yesterday March 05, 2021, and immediately started the initial inoculation with health workers as the priority.
It was a historic day for the Zamboanga Peninsula as it receives its first batch of the most-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine. The 10,200 doses of Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac were welcomed by the Regional Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases together with some city officials including City Mayor Beng Climaco in the Zamboanga International Airport. The vaccines were transported and stored in a DOH-9 facility in Barangay Calarian. The vaccines are set to be distributed in six (6) COVID-19 referral hospitals in the peninsula.
In the afternoon of the same day, the city started its initial rollout of the vaccines by inoculating at least ten (10) health workers of the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC). The first COVID-19 vaccine shot in the region was administered to the chief of the ZCMC Dr. Afdal Kunting, who is also an alumnus and a member of the faculty of the AdZU-School of Medicine.
The city government of Zamboanga is expecting more vaccines to arrive in the city. The local government has signed a multilateral agreement with AstraZeneca for a Php100 million-worth or 410,000 doses of vaccines which are expected to arrive in the second quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, in past weeks, the local government has intensified its information campaign on the safety and efficacy of vaccines as part of its preparation for the implementation of the country’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program. It is also an effort to boost confidence and encourage the general public to get inoculated once the vaccines are widely available in the city. Moreover, the City Health Office headed by Dr. Dulce Miravite conducted a COVID-19 Vaccination Simulation activity last February 27, 2021, in Barangay Sta. Maria to train the personnel who will be directly involved in the rollout of the vaccines in the city. The activity was rated 7 out of 10 by the Health Regional Director.
The arrival of the initial batch of COVID-19 jabs signals the beginning of the health and economic recovery of the region which has recorded thousands of cases since the start of the pandemic.
As of writing, Zamboanga City has 68 active cases with 13 new cases in the past two days. On the day of the arrival of Sinovac Biotech’s vaccines, the region has also recorded its first COVID-19 UK variant positive case, a returning overseas Filipino who arrived in Labason, Zamboanga del Norte.
