COTABATO CITY— Without fear nor doubt, three hundred (300) medical frontliners from Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in Maguindanao were inoculated on Friday, March 5, with Sinovac vaccine.
Bangsamoro Health Minister Dr. Amirel Usman, got the first jab,, after which he encouraged the Bangsamoro constituents to support the government’s vaccination program.
Usman said, getting vaccinated is not compulsory but he emphasized “Hindi po ito sapilitan, but then, ang pagpapabakuna is a moral obligation of everyone,” Usman said.
He reassured that in case there will be an adverse reaction during the vaccination, Ministry of Health (MOH) will provide a medical team that will observe the receiver within 30 minutes to 1 hour.
The Maguindanao health workers signed waiver documents before getting vaccinated. The second dose of vaccine will be administered on April 2, four weeks after their first shots.
Yesterday, 4,200 vials of vaccine for Bangsamoro region arrived at Awang Airport, Maguindanao. Of which, 1,400 is intended for Maguindanao
According to IPHO Maguindanao Provincial Health Officer Dr. Elizabeth Samama, the allotted Sinovac vaccines for the province were divided into four (4) hospitals, such as the IPHO (600 vials), Buluan District Hospital (300 vials), Datu Blah District Hospital (300 vials), and Datu Odin District Hospital (200 vials).
“Today marks the beginning of that long been wished for event that a vaccine against Coronavirus Disease gets into our arms,” Samama said.
“Our gratitude for the tremendous support we received and we are receiving to continue the fight against our unseen enemy,” she added.
On March 8 and 9 respectively, medical frontliners from Buluan District Hospital are scheduled for their inoculation which will be followed by the frontliners from Datu Blah and Datu Odin District Hospitals. –With report from BIO
