A total of 6,670 more doses of the Sinovac vaccine have been transported to Bohol as part of the national government’s mass inoculation campaign to fight COVID-19.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief Anthony Damalerio said the vials were shipped from Pier 3 in Cebu City to the Tubigon Port at 8 p.m. on Saturday on board a FastCat vessel.
The doses were allocated for Bohol by the Department of Health (DOH).
According to Damalerio, the jabs were turned over to the Provincial Health Office (PHO) which in turn will oversee their distribution to city and municipal health offices.
So far, a total of 45,880 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to Bohol.
Some 40,740 of these are from Sinovac while the remaining 5,140 doses are from British-Swede pharmaceutical AstraZeneca.
Considering that vaccines from both drugmakers require two doses, it is expected that the jabs that have been shipped to the province will be used for the inoculation of 22,940 people.
PHO assistant chief Dr. Yul Lopez earlier noted that the province has almost completed the vaccination of health workers and other front-line personnel.
Vaccination of senior citizens will commence “immediately” once more doses arrive, Lopez added.
Over 150,000 elderly persons have been listed by the PHO as willing recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine. (R. Tutas)