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As Zamboanga del Norte received Saturday, March 6, the initial 10,000 doses of China-donated Sinovac vaccines, the Department of Health (DOH) provincial representative here remains optimistic that people would eventually allow themselves to be vaccinated despite the initial pessimism.
“You know it is part of Filipino culture to wait and see until they see results from others. I’m confident they will agree to the vaccination after they see our officials, leaders have been vaccinated,” said Dr Jane Jaug, DOH provincial representative for Zamboanga del Norte.
The doses of CoronaVac, vaccines made by Sinovac Biotech, arrived in Dipolog City past noon and at 5 pm. About 284 vaccines were delivered to the Dr Jose Rizal Memorial District Hospital (DJRMDH) in Dapitan City while 500 doses were sent to Zamboanga del Norte Medical Center (ZNMC) in Dipolog.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar arrived in Dapitan last February 17 as part of an information campaign to promote anti-COVID 19 vaccines, but was widely seen to have hardly any effect as the number of those who refused to be vaccinated remain high.
“Dili ko magpabakuna, mahadlok ko (I will not undergo vaccination, I’m afraid),” said Gina Saplid, a 19-year-old girl, from Sindangan town.
Asked why, she said: “Daghan mang nangamatay ana, daghan man sab dili magpabakuna sa among barangay (A lot have died because of that vaccination, there are also many of us in our barangay who don’t like to be vaccinated).”
In November 2020, Sinovac trials in Brazil were briefly suspended after a reported death of a volunteer. The trial resumed after it was found that the death was not linked to the vaccine.
Earlier this week, a Hong Kong elderly died two days after receiving a Sinovac dose but the panel investigating the circumstance said the initial autopsy report showed that the man suffered from serious heart disease.
In Dapitan, Jaug said that only about 284 health front liners agreed to be vaccinated out of the targeted 500 health workers at DJRMDH.
“Those willing to be vaccinated (at DJRMDH) rose to 370 as the vaccines arrived, but they have to wait because we only brought in 284 doses,” Jaug said.
About 500 frontline health workers at ZNMC in Dipolog agreed to be vaccinated out of 713 frontliners.
Jaug said the Provincial Health Office is in-charge of the distribution of the vaccines, the remaining dosage were kept at the province’s cold chain. – Rappler.com
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