Some 10,000 Pfizer and 5,000 Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine doses are expected to arrive in Bohol on Wednesday, Tourism Sec. Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced during her visit to the province.
Puyat arrived in Bohol Wednesday morning together with vaccine czar Sec. Vince Dizon to oversee the vaccination of frontline workers in the province particularly those in the tourism industry.
“May darating na 10,000 doses of Pfizer today and ibibigay lahat yun sa Bohol,” said Puyat during the ceremonial vaccination in Panglao.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) has been pushing for the vaccination of tourism workers in Bohol as part of efforts to revive the province’s once-booming tourism industry amid the persisting pandemic.
“Hopefully, today’s rollout will further boost the number of vaccinated tourism workers and help bring us closer to the herd immunity which will put an end to this health crisis. With everyone’s cooperation, we hope to see Bohol regain its popularity as a premier tourism destination, for both local and international travelers,” Puyat said.
Meanwhile, Dizon said Sputnik V vaccines are also expected to arrive within the day.
He did not specify the number of doses but noted that these will be used for the second-dose inoculation of tourism workers who were jabbed with their first dose in June.
While the vaccine recipients have long been awaiting their second dose, Dizon assured that the Sputnik V is already “70 to 75” percent effective even after just the first dose.
Governor Art Yap who joined Dizon and Puyat during the ceremonial vaccination at the Bellevue Resort in Panglao thanked both secretaries for their efforts in helping Bohol recover from the pandemic-induced economic slump through vaccination.
He also requested Dizon for more doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for senior citizens who prefer the brand due to its single-dose requirement.
So far, Bohol has been able to fully vaccinate 111,603 individuals while 92,998 have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of August 9, 2021 based on data from the Provincial Health Office.
The province has received a total of 230,080 vaccine doses from the national government.