Health workers at the Ospital ng Makati became the first batch of frontliners in the city to receive the COVID-19 vaccines.
Mayor Abigail Binay said all doses if the vaccine produced by Sinovac of China allotted by the national government to the city were administered to health workers at the Ospital ng Makati.
“This is a historical moment for Makati’s medical frontliners. For one year they bore the brunt of caring for our Makatizens who have contracted the coronavirus — at the expense of their own health and safety. Today, they are receiving protection in the form of a vaccine that will allow them to save countless lives in the months to come,” Binay said.
The city chief executive said OsMak Hospital Director Dr. Vergel Binay volunteered in the event and was immunized by Dr. Flerida Hernandez, the hospital’s Quality Assurance Director, and a Pediatric Hematologist.
Dr. Max Angelo Terrenal from the Department of Emergency Medicine; Dr. Michelle Cuvin, Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist and other doctors, nurses and hospital personnel followed Dr. Binay.
Mayor Binay said she declined the opportunity to be immunized, stressing that the vaccines should be given to those with high exposure to the coronavirus and are treating patients who have been infected.
“The important thing is that the priorities should be the first one to be immunized. After the frontliners, if there are vaccines available, then I will. If there’s not, I will wait for my turn,” the mayor said.
The national government allotted 300 doses for Makati City. To date, some 392 OsMak personnel have registered to be vaccinated.
Secretary Vivencio Dizon, Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19; Dr. Ma. Paz Corrales, Assistant Regional Director of the Metro Manila Center for Health Development of the DOH; and Ma. Luisa Orezca, Executive Director IV of the Philippine National AIDS Council were also present during the ceremonial vaccination program at OsMak.
Besides the SinoVac shots from the DOH, the city government has ordered one million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines.
Mayor Binay had previously explained that this number will cover not just city residents and local government employees, but also non-residents who work in Makati.
Binay said the city’s P1-billion budget for the purchase of the vaccines and its share of vaccines procured by the national government will be enough to cover all Makati-based businesses, from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to large companies.
The city government has also procured 42 biomedical refrigerators and laboratory freezers to ensure proper and safe storage of COVID-19 vaccines once they arrive. The vaccine refrigerators and freezers are housed in a vaccine depot at the City Hall quadrangle.