The city government of Manila received on Monday its share of 3,000 doses of Sputnik V jabs from the national government.
The Russian-made vaccines were delivered straight to the city’s storage facility at the Sta. Ana Hospital.
Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, and Manila Health Department acting chief Dr. Arnold Pangan received the delivery.
A total of 15,000 Sputnik V jabs arrived in the country on Saturday. Taguig, Makati, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa will also get 3,000 doses each for the pilot rollout.
“As per the Department of Health, the 3,000 doses are for the first doses. There will be another batch for the second doses. If clearance and guidance will be given today, we are ready to deploy,” Domagoso said.
Medical front-liners who have not received their Covid-19 vaccines yet will be prioritized for the Sputnik V jabs, which touts a 91.6 percent efficacy.
After two or three days, the city government will next offer the vaccine to individuals in the A2 (senior citizens) and the A3 (persons with comorbidities aged 18 to 59) priority lists.
Domagoso said the Sputnik V vaccines will be initially administered at the Sta. Ana Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila.
“Due diligence kailangan natin gawin. As you can see, metikoloso ‘yung handling, even the condition na kailangan para sa Gamaleya Sputnik (We need due diligence here. As you can see, Gamaleya Sputnik vaccines require meticulous handling),” he said.
Only a few medical front-liners in the city’s six district hospitals have not received their Covid-19 shots yet. They are doctors and nurses who prefer brands other than Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines that were first offered.
There are also healthcare workers who contracted Covid-19 and can’t receive vaccines yet.
Pangan will coordinate with directors of the six district hospitals to collate the names of personnel who want to receive the Sputnik V vaccine.
Manila’s storage facility at the Sta. Ana Hospital can handle several vaccine brands that require different storage temperatures.
Domagoso said that based on the public’s response, he can say that vaccine confidence has increased.
“Nung unang araw namin, naka-170 lang kami. Sumunod 300, sumunod 1,000, so nagkaron dati, totoo ‘yung takot pa muna. Pero ngayon baligtad na. Kinakapos na ‘yung bakuna sa demand ng tao na gustong magpabakuna. Kahapon may dumating kami na 4,200. In a matter of six hours, na-ubos (Initially, we only vaccinated about 170, then it became 300 then 1,000. So it’s true that before, people were afraid, but it has turned around. We are already running out of vaccines because of the number of people who wants to receive them. Yesterday, we received 4,200, and in a matter of six hours, they’re gone),” Domagoso said. (PNA)
