Health authorities in Sarangani province are targeting to complete this week the vaccination of its priority frontline health care workers against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Razel Bustria, national immunization coordinator of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), on Monday said a total of 846 or 91 percent of the 930 eligible health workers in the province were already inoculated with their first doses of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
She said the recipients are medical professionals and staff members of the province’s six public and lone private hospital.
A report released by the PHO said a total of 220 frontline workers were vaccinated at the Glan Medicare Community Hospital, 162 at the Sarangani Provincial Hospital, 148 at the Dr. Cornelio T. Martinez Memorial Hospital in Kiamba, 115 at the Malungon Municipal Hospital, 90 at the Maasim Municipal Hospital, 66 at Maitum Municipal Hospital and 45 the Tiburcio Aquino Memorial Hospital in Kiamba.
Bustria said the vaccination of the other eligible health personnel is ongoing and they expect their accomplishment rate to further increase in the coming days.
These include health workers assigned in temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, barangay isolation units for Covid-19 patients and rural health units in the province, she said.
Since the start of the inoculation drive last March 7, the province already received a total of 536 single doses of Sinovac and 215 vials or 2,150 doses of Astrazeneca vaccines from the Department of Health (DOH)-Region 12.
Bustria said they expect the arrival of more vaccines in the next few days to facilitate the expansion of their vaccination activities.
Citing the DOH’s hierarchy of prioritization for Covid-19 vaccines, she said “frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students in health and allied profession courses with clinical responsibilities, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, and others,” belong to Group A, especially phase 1, of the priority groups.
“Next in line are senior citizens aged 60 years old and above,” followed by adults with comorbidities,” Bustria told reporters.
Dr. Sharir Dulduco, DOH provincial officer for Sarangani and General Santos City, said they are satisfied with the ongoing rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination in the province.
He said they have not recorded any case so far of severe adverse effect among the recipients of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
“There were no reported issues with the process and the overall accomplishment has actually exceeded our initial targets,” he said in a statement.
Dulduco added that the prioritization of the recipients was properly followed by vaccination implementers as set in the DOH guidelines. (PNA)
