After a year of fighting COVID-19, at least 1,770 health professionals from the private sector, contact tracers, barangay response teams and other front-liners got vaccinated in Quezon City.
“To get our front-liners vaccinated is an achievement since this will provide them protection especially in the performance of their duties. It is our responsibility to make sure that all of our healthcare workers including our support teams are safe from the virus,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
She made the statement even as she urged continued academic ease for students in special lockdown areas
She reiterated a memorandum from the Department of Education issued on Oct. 30, 2020, on academic ease to help students and teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Disease Unit, Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams and select personnel of the QC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office have been inoculated with CoronaVac and AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the national government.
The city health department is eyeing to inoculate over 6,000 front-liners, including health-care workers in the public and private clinics, diagnostic laboratories and also home-for-the-aged and rehabilitation centers.
Rolando Cruz, CESU chief who was also vaccinated, said the vaccination of his staff had boosted team morale and performance.
“We are slowly gaining momentum in the vaccination of our team. As the head of CESU, I am more than glad and relieved because our team will be protected. We can avoid serious complications from the disease,” he said.
According to ex-councilor Joseph Juico, Task Force Vax to Normal co-chairperson, all employees and health-care workers in the master list of the three city government hospitals were able to receive their first dose of the CoronaVac and AstraZeneca.
“The vaccines of our hospital workers were timely as they face yet another surge in the number of cases. This is why it is important to have our medical workers vaccinated because they are continuously exposed to the risk of infection,” he said.
As of March 18, 1,100 health-care workers have been inoculated at the Quezon City General Hospital, 488 in the Novaliches District Hospital and 360 in the Rosario Maclang Bautista General Hospital.
Also, eight level-1 hospitals and 11 level 2 hospitals both public and private have received their first doses of vaccines reaching a total of 6,159 healthcare workers.
“As the city awaits its order of AstraZeneca and other vaccine donations, the QC government is fully preparing its vaccination sites and is in close coordination with other vaccine manufacturers for additional supplies,” the city government said in a statement.
