BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN / ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The Department of Health dispatched 6,260 vials of AstraZeneca vaccine, comprised of 62,600 doses, to Negros Occidental and Bacolod City yesterday.
Provincial Incident Management Team head Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian said 15 boxes containing 4,080 AstraZeneca vials, equivalent to 40,800 doses, were earmarked for Negros Occidental, and the remaining five boxes, containing 2,180 vials, or 21,800 doses, were delivered to Bacolod City.
The newly-arrived supply formed part of the more than 700,000 doses of assorted Covid-19 vaccines earmarked by DOH for delivery to Western Visayas this month.
Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr., Bacolod City Health officer-in-charge, said that 16,800 doses will be administered to priority Bacolodnons as second dose, while 5,000 doses will be used for either the first or second dose.
From March 2021 to July 15 this year, Bacolod already received 115,340 combined doses of Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines from the national government.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday that local government units of Negros Occidental are expecting the arrival this month of the vaccines they purchased from AstraZeneca.
The AstraZeneca vaccines will be for the second dose of Negrenses next month.
The provincial government purchased 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, while Bacolod City bought 650,000 doses of the same European brand, through a tripartite agreement.
NO CHARGES
Earlier, executive director Em Ang of the Emergency Operations Center debunked reports that the city government is charging for the inoculation of Bacolodnons.
Ang stressed that if there are any social media post of people allegedly being charged for their vaccines, the EOC has nothing to do with it.
The EOC has not authorized any person to collect fees for the vaccine, and she urged the public to be wary of these unscrupulous people who are trying to take advantage of the situation.
Ang urged those who haven’t done so yet to register at tinyurl.com/bcdceironline and wait to be notified of their scheduled vaccination.*
