The Veterans Memorial Medical Center on Monday joined other hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in the country.
Among the witnesses of the rollout were Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles who both expressed willingness to get vaccinated with CoronaVac.
“Siyempre ang priority talaga natin is our healthcare frontline health workers. Sila ‘yung uunahin natin dahil sila ‘yung pinaka-priority natin (Our priority is really our healthcare frontline workers. They should be the first in line because they are our topmost priority),” Nograles pointed out.
The health worker of the health facility to receive the first shot of the vaccine developed by Sinovac was VMMC nursing supervisor Gemma Colcol.
“I am also a department manager from the COVID complex, so I must be an example to the people,” Colcol admitted.
Out of the over 2,000 employees of the VMMC, around 1,300 have preregistered for the vaccination aside from their dependents.
Several recipients of the vaccine at the facility experienced adverse effects such as allergic reaction, headache, and rise in blood pressure which were reportedly considered normal.
Dr. Ramon Mora of the VMMC Department of Medicine explained that steroids and antihistamines can be provided in case of simple redness and itchiness.
“Pero kung medyo nahihirapang huminga, magbibigay kami ng mas matapang (But if there is difficulty breathing, we may give something stronger),” Mora assured.
“Ang nakakatakot kasi rito ‘yun bang sumikip ‘yung daanan ng hininga. Diyan kami takot kaya if ever mangyayari ‘yun, doon kami sa ER (What we fear is the constriction of the airways. That’s what we are afraid of so if ever that happens, we head directly to the ER),” Mora added.
The rollout of the vaccine at the VMMC will continue in the coming days. – Report from Patrick de Jesus
