Region 10 receives 17,400 Sinovac vaccines

Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) has received 17,400 doses of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine.

The shipment arrived in Cagayan de Oro City on Thursday morning on board Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight PR 2519 and was welcomed by Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar.

"I am delighted to receive the good news that we are moving closer to achieving our goal of providing equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and further protecting the lives of the Filipino people from the pressing concerns brought by the COVID-19," said Andanar, who was in Cagayan de Oro in time for the regular meeting of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC 10).

The vaccines, which were part of the 600,000 doses donated by China to the Philippines and arrived on February 28, were immediately transported to the storage facility of the Department of Health Region 10.

Andanar, the designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security for Northern Mindanao (CORDS X), is tasked to oversee the implementation of the development priority programs  in the region.

According to DOH 10 Assistant Regional Director David Mendoza, these initial supplies will be allocated for the frontline healthcare workers in the region only, giving priority to third level hospitals.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez urged the national government to allocate vaccines to other regional and LGU hospitals such as J.R Borja Memorial Hospital in Cagayan de Oro and other private referral hospitals in the country.

Aside from Northern Mindanao, other hospitals in Samar and Leyte, Bicol, and in Central and Northern Luzon, including Baguio and Mountain Province, should be provided with vaccines too, Rodriguez said.

"These personnel are exposed also to COVID-19. The other regional, LGU and referral hospitals are also fighting the highly-infectious novel coronavirus and its mutation. There should be equity in the distribution of the vaccine," he said.

The inoculation is set to begin on Friday, March 5, at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC). Some 8,700 frontliners are expected to benefit from this.

“We will abide strictly by the guidelines given and we will administer it first in third level hospitals. Lower level hospitals and infirmaries that are willing to accept the vaccine will follow,” he said.

DOH 10 has also prepared its Quick Substitution List (QSL) to prevent wastage of the vaccines.  —with Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News