BALANGA, BATAAN — The province of Bataan kicked off its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday, March 8, with 326 health care workers from the Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) receiving the first batch of Sinovac vaccines delivered to the province.
In ceremonies witnessed by the country’s testing czar Vince Dizon, Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia, Cong. Joet Garcia, Mayors Francis Garcia and Gila Garcia and other local government and health officials, BGHMC chief Dr. Glory Baltazar and other top brass doctors from BGHMC were the first to be vaccinated during the ceremonial inoculation held in front of the Old Capitol Building.
Yesterday, March 9, Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered which will be consequently rolled-out for the remaining health care workers from priority hospitals BGHMC, Mariveles District Hospital (MDH) and Dinalupihan District Hospital (DDH) also known as the Jose C. Payumo Jr. Memorial Hospital.
The balance of 91 Sinovac vials from Monday’s vaccination will also be administered to this group today according to Baltazar. There are 1,420 doses of Astra Zeneca earmarked for Bataan.
There will be a daily delivery of the remaining Sinovac vaccines to complete its allocation to Bataan in the next few days according to representatives of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 3.
The centralized inoculation center for the province is at the Bataan People’s Center, a stone’s throw away from the BGHMC, where the cold chain vaccine storage is also located.
As the vaccine program continues to roll-out nationwide, more and more health care workers have been giving their vote of confidence to the Sinovac vaccine recognizing its 100 percent efficacy to prevent and treat severe symptoms of COVID-19.
Gov. Garcia sees this as a very encouraging development as the province continues to march forward in its fight towards the total eradication of the pandemic.
He said, “I want to assure our people that we are doing everything we can to make the vaccine available to all. It has already been a year of fighting COVID-19 this month. Now that we have the vaccine already at our doorsteps, the hope that we have been waiting for is here. We are on the last trenches of this fight. We will see this through together.”
