Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinovac Research and Development Co Ltd. Photo taken from UNB via The Daily Star/Asia News Network
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 42 healthcare workers from Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) who experienced ‘mild reactions’ after receiving the first dose of Sinovac’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are now doing fine, the regional health office here reported.
On Monday, March 8, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) confirmed that at least 42 hospital workers from VSMMC had mild reactions when they were jabbed with the first dose of CoronaVac, Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine brand.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 spokesperon, told reporters that most of the medical frontliners reported experiencing pain when they were being monitored for adverse effects at the vaccination site.
The others experienced light-headedness, dizziness, headache, feeling of fatigue, injection numbness, itching, and fainting.
Loreche, however, said all 42 medical workers did not need further medical treatment as they found no indications that the reactions needed serious interventions.
“So far, they are doing well. No one was sent for further interventions. These (mild reactions) are just something you can carry through,” she explained.
Cebu began its COVID-19 vaccine rollout last March 4 with healthcare workers from VSMMC administered with the first dose of CoronaVac.
As of March 8, Loreche said a total of 1,397 workers from VSMMC had already received the first shot of CoronaVac.
She added that more VSMMC workers signified willingness to volunteer in the government’s inoculation drive, with 2,212 having already submitted their informed consents as of March 8.
“We are very proud of them that they were encouraged to get vaccinated. And we are hoping and expecting this number to go higher,” Loreche said.
A total of around 24,000 doses of CoronaVac have been shipped to Central Visayas last week, and all of these are meant for healthcare workers.
Of this number, 7,200 were set aside from VSMMC, the region’s largest COVID-referral hospital.
DOH-7 said excess vials from VSMMC would be allocated for workers from hospitals in Cebu-ran and operated by the state’s health department.
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