PGH director becomes PHL first recipient of COVID-19 vaccine
(Eagle News) — The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program officially kicked off on Monday, March 1, with several medical frontliners getting the jabs the government hopes will curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus amid the pandemic.
Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, the University of the Philippines’-Philippine General Hospital director, officially became the country’s first recipient of the COVID-19 vaccine, a day after CoronaVac, the vaccine manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac-Biotech, arrived in the Philippines.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles led the vaccine rollout at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.
Lorenzana had reportedly wanted to get a vaccine shot but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III stopped him because of his age.
A nurse who tested positive for COVID-19 was also slated to be administered the vaccine.
At the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Tala, Caloocan, officials set up a screening area for those who wish to be inoculated.
The Department of Health has said the Philippines was “very much prepared for the COVID-19 vaccination, with the first batch of vaccines delivered to seven priority hospitals in Metro Manila.
Apart from the VMMC and the Tala Hospital, the priority hospitals are the PGH, Lung Center of the Philippines, PNP General Hospital, Pasig City General Hospital, and the V. Luna Medical Center.
Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said in a television interview that COVID-19 vaccination in the provinces, in particular Cebu and Davao, is expected to start this week.
Over 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive in the Philippines next week, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. With reports from Meanne Corvera, Earlo Bringas
