NEWS ALERT: Manila continues inoculating healthcare workers, assures them ‘vaccines are safe’
The Manila City government continued inoculating hundreds of healthcare workers on Thursday, March 18 while assuring the general public that COVID-19 vaccines are safe.
Simultaneous vaccination drives were held at the Sta. Ana Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center this morning, with hundreds of healthcare workers lining up to get inoculated.
So far, Manila City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan said about 4,000 medical frontline workers have already received their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Pangan also urged the healthcare workers who have not yet been inoculated to have themselves vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus.
"Hopefully we're encouraging everybody else sa ating anim na ospital at Manila Health Department na ito na yung panahon na magpabakuna na sila, marami tayong mga kasamahan kasi na tinamaan ng COVID na karamihan sa kanila, about 90% ay hindi pa bakunado," Dr. Pangan said.
"Huwag na nating hintayin pa, maunahan sila na matamaan ng COVID. Ito na yung pagkakataon, grab the opportunity, hindi natin alam kailan darating yung susunod na bakuna and by that time hindi na sila ang priority," he added.
About 885 healthcare workers are expected to be vaccinated with Sinovac, while about 528 medical frontliners are expected to receive their first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of Tuesday, March 16, 3,947 healthcare workers under the city government were already vaccinated. Dr. Pangan said the city health department is aiming to vaccinate 5,000 frontliners.
"Libre ito, inopen rin ito ni Mayor Isko sa ating private practitioners at sa private clinics kasi ang mga private clinics na ito ay humaharap din sa mga pasyente," Dr. Pangan said.
Sta. Ana Hospital Director Dr. Grace Padilla likewise echoed the appeal of Dr. Pangan, assuring healthcare workers who haven't been inoculated that vaccines are safe.
"With the current increasing trend of COVID-19 cases, we need to protect our healthcare workers through vaccination. It is the only solution. Let's care for those who care," Dr. Padilla said.
Both city health officials urged the public to register via manilacovid19vaccine.com in order to reserve their slots once vaccines are made available for the general public.
As of writing, a total of 103,243 have already expressed their intent to be vaccinated in the nation's capital.
NEWS ALERT: Mayor Isko suspends Holy Week activities in Manila
Manila Mayor @IskoMoreno informed the public that all Holy Week activities in the city will be suspended. The mayor made this clear in an interview on DZBB on Friday, March 19.
The religious holiday commemorated by Catholics — which starts on March 29 this year — traditionally includes rituals and customs such as the penitensya, Visita Iglesia, and caridad.
Due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Manila, Domagoso said that it was only logical to prevent large public gatherings that could easily turn into superspreader events.
Manila Mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso said that for the past two weeks the city government has been doing 24/7 monitoring and intensified contact tracing in a bid to curb the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
"[We are checking] if rules are bring implemented properly by enforcement agencies and if barangays are doing their responsibility to contain infections," the mayor said in an interview on ANC's "Matters of Fact" on Friday, March 18.
Manila Mayor @IskoMoreno is urging medical frontliners to grab the opportunity to get vaccinated as the City of Manila received a new batch of COVID-19 vaccines.
There were 1,870 vials of Sinovac vaccines and 1,000 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines delivered to the LGU on Wednesday, March 17.
Manila City Mayor @IskoMoreno appealed for donations to the city government in order to sustain the operations of the city's free COVID-19 walk-in and drive thru testing centers.
Donations to the city government will be used to buy more reagents needed to test more blood samples taken from patients, Domagoso said on Monday, July 20.