845 DSWD-7 employees get COVID-19 jab

FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Eduard Korniyenko

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu- Some 845 employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD)-7 were already inoculated with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Hilton John Edrial, the vaccination coordinator of DSWD-7, said the figure is almost half of their total workforce of 1,780.

Edrial said the vaccination of their employees started on July 2, 2021, in coordination with the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH-7).

The inoculation was held at the Center for Behavioral Science of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

Those who were vaccinated were allowed to work from home for two days so they can rest, he said.

The agency also created a support group that will monitor the possible adverse effects of the vaccine on some of their employees.

“Mao na silang gitagaan ug work-from-home para makapahuway sila ug makamonitor sila ug duna ba’y adverse event following the immunization,” Edrial said.

(We allowed them to work from home so they can rest and so we can monitor should they feel any adverse effects following their immunization.)

He added that they will immediately report to DOH-7 should one of their employees experience an adverse effect from the inoculation.

But so far, Edrial said that some of their vaccinated employees only experienced mild effects of the vaccine such as fever, pain on the inoculated area, and headache. / dcb