72% of healthcare workers in NCR now vaccinated vs. COVID-19 —DOH exec

Seventy-two percent of the healthcare workers in Metro Manila have already received a vaccine against COVID-19, according to treatment czar Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega.

"Sa Metro Manila, ang healthcare workers na reported, nasa 72% na ang healthcare workers na nasa A1 na nabakunahan," Vega said during the Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday.

(In Metro Manila, among the healthcare workers reported, 72% of them who are under the A1 classification have already been vaccinated.)

According to the Department of Health official, 74% of the 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac that arrived in the Philippines on March 24 have been allocated for Metro Manila.

This is due to the high concentration of COVID-19 cases in the capital region, he said.

Overall, Vega said the number of Filipinos who have already received a vaccine against COVID-19 may have already reached more than 600,000.

Those who were classified under A1 include frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers.

After all those classified under A1 have been vaccinated, Vega said those under A2, A3 and A4 groups will follow.

These are:

• A2: Senior citizens aged 60 years old and above

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• A3: Persons with comorbidities not otherwise included in the preceding categories
• A4: Frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases as essential during an enhanced community quarantine 

Vega also reported that they have not recorded any severe side effects of the vaccine from those who already received it.

"Mostly ang napansin sa adverse effects after immunization, mild cases lang. Wala namang severe at wala namang nangyari na nagkaroon ng death at ang cause nito ay pagbakuna," he said.

(Mostly the side effects that we observed after immunization are only mild cases. There are no severe side effects and there are no deaths that resulted from the vaccination.)

The Philippines began its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1 after the arrival of 600,000 doses of donated Sinovac vaccines, which was immediately followed by 487,000 doses of vaccines of AstraZeneca donated through the COVAX facility.

On March 7, another batch of 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the country, which was followed by the second batch of 400,000 doses from Sinovac.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is aiming to reach its target of 50 to 70 million vaccinations before the end of the year to achieve herd immunity and give Filipinos a "better Christmas." —KG, GMA News