More China-made Sinovac vaccines arrive in Iloilo

The Department of Health (DOH-6) in Western Visayas received additional 32,400 doses of the China-made Sinovac vaccines on Tuesday, May 18.

 

Based on the Regional Vaccination Operations Center (RVOC) data, the vaccines were allocated for the first and second doses of target recipients in Panay and Guimaras islands.

 

Iloilo province got the highest allocation with 15,000 doses while Aklan, Capiz, and Antique would each receive 4,480 doses.

 

Iloilo City will have 2,000 doses and the DOH-6 will have 480 doses as a buffer.

 

Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, section head of the DOH-6 integrated non-communicable diseases prevention and control program, said the additional vaccines are part of the 1.5 million doses expected to arrive anytime in Western Visayas.

 

“More vaccines could improve our daily accomplishments in our vaccination rollout, especially for priority groups A1 to A3,” she said in an interview.

 

As of May 16, the RVOC has masterlisted 129,696 healthcare workers, 788,431 senior citizens and 79,855 adults with comorbidity who are eligible for the inoculation.

 

A total of 107,877 individuals from priority group A1 to A3 in Western Visayas have availed of their first dose while 28,533 have availed of Sinovac and 234 using AstraZeneca for their second dose.

 

In a virtual presser on Monday, May 17, Natalaray said there is a need to exert more effort to complete the vaccination for those belonging to the A1 to A3 priority groups, which is being done simultaneously.

 

She said the health care workers are number one on the priority list to protect the health care system and to prevent mortality by prioritizing senior citizens and persons with comorbidity.  

 

Meanwhile, Cindy Ferrer, information officer of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) that handles the Logistics and Cold Chain Cluster of the RVOC, said the vaccines arrived at the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan at 9:10 a.m.PNA