Johannah Paula Vidal, Nurse | CDN Digital Photo by Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – At first, she was hesitant about receiving the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.
But on March 10, 2021, nurse Johannah Paula Vidal said she was glad she made the right choice to get herself inoculated.
“I am happy I got the vaccine,” Johannah said after healthcare workers under University of Cebu Medical Center (UCMed) jabbed her with the first dose of CoronaVac, the COVID-19 vaccine brand of China’s Sinovac.
Johannah was among the over 4,000 hospital workers in Central Visayas who were inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
They are part of the national government’s priority for its COVID-19 vaccination drive, which officially kicked off during the first week of March.
READ MORE: Region 7 has enough COVID-19 vaccines for all hospital workers – DOH-7
Johannah is a nurse assigned at the Emergency Ward of UCMed and has since been battling the pandemic at the frontlines.
She admitted that there were doubts that crossed her mind when the government announced medical frontliners, especially those handling COVID-19 patients, will be the first to receive the shots.
However, the recent surge of new COVID-19 cases in Cebu at the start of 2021 was one of the major reasons that drove her to volunteer for the inoculation drive.
“Since January, our cases returned to their peak. Knowing I’m on the front lines, as an Emergency Room Nurse, I had to grab the opportunity and take the vaccine,” explained Johannah.
30 minutes after she was inoculated, Johannah did not report experiencing adverse effects. In fact, throughout the vaccination process, she said she was just calm.
“I wasn’t afraid, knowing also I did my research and read vaccine information before I made the decision,” she added.
Johannah encourages other medical frontliners to get themselves inoculated.
“For my nursing friends and colleagues, take the vaccine. Not only because it’s the only vaccine available but because it works. It really works,” she said.
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