Employees of the country’s three main COVID-19 referral hospitals – the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City, and the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium (Tala Hospital) in Caloocan City — will get the first jabs of the coronavirus vaccine this month.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said all staff will be vaccinated, not just the health workers, as the country gears up for the start of its mass vaccination campaign.
“These are hospitals. We cannot single out doctors and nurses and ignore the admin staff — if they all get sick, the doctors won’t be able to work. That’s why we want to preserve institutional safety,” Duque said.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. also said health workers and personnel of the East Avenue Medical Center will be included in the initial rollout.
The excess doses from the initial rollout will be deployed to other hospitals in Metro Manila, the DOH chief added.
“Metro Manila lang muna dahil ito naman ang epicenter. Titingnan natin kung puwede rin ang Cebu and Davao dahil dito ang mga epicenters din sa labas ng Metro Manila,” Duque said.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a bill that proposes to enhance the country’s efforts towards disease prevention by expanding the mandatory immunization program for all life stages.
The chamber unanimously passed House Bill 8558 that will repeal Republic Act 10152 or the “Mandatory Infants and Children Immunization Act of 2011,” including the list of diseases covered by the national immunization program.
Once enacted, the program will now cover the following vaccine-preventable diseases: tuberculosis; diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; poliomyelitis; measles; mumps; rubella or German measles; hepatitis-B; H. influenza type B (HIB); rotavirus; Japanese encephalitis; pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV); human papilloma virus (HPV); and booster for measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria (MRTD).
It will also include such other types of vaccine-preventable diseases as may be determined by the Secretary of Health upon the recommendation of the National Immunization Technical and Advisory Group (NITAG) and after a separate or joint public hearing conducted by the health panels of Congress.
The bill, principally authored by Quezon Rep. Angelina Tan, mandates the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct massive and continuing education and information campaigns on the importance of giving basic immunization considering the controversy surrounding the dengue vaccine that had somehow tainted the credibility of the government’s immunization program.
This developed as Tan, chairperson of the Committee on Health, welcomed the approval of the bill.
She thanked Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco and the House leadership for supporting its early passage. “The timing for the approval of this significant health measure cannot be more perfect as the country is looking forward toward the introduction of COVID-19 vaccine, which is likely to become available in the country anytime soon."
"I am certain that this health legislation will pave the way for a more relevant, responsive, and reinvigorated immunization program that all Filipinos so badly need at this point”, Tan added.