Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos is among the first to get inoculated as the government rolls out its vaccination program against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Abalos was vaccinated with the Coronavac vaccine made by China-based drug maker Sinovac Biotech at the Philippine General Hospital along with PGH director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. and other medical frontliners.
Abalos said he volunteered to get vaccinated with the Sinovac vaccine to help ease the public’s anxiety over the government’s vaccination plan.
The MMDA chairman added that the death of his mother recently because of COVID-19 inspired him to get inoculated.
He also pointed out Sinovac’s methodology and efficacy rate as the main reasons why he volunteered to get injected with it.
Last year, Abalos tested positive for COVID-19 after his parents contracted the disease.
“Sinovac’s estimated efficacy rate of 92% among healthy individuals in Turkey is also very high.”
“The Sinovac is an inactivated virus vaccine which is the similar technology used in polio, measles, and rubella vaccines. Its estimated efficacy rate of 92% among healthy individuals in Turkey is also very high,” he stressed.
For Abalos, the rollout of the vaccine makes the entire country “upbeat,” as it get its hopes up to end the pandemic.
He also urged the public to get vaccinated whatever their choices among the vaccines will be, underscoring the significance of achieving herd immunity.
“The more individuals who will be inoculated, the earlier our fight against this disease will end.”
“Don’t let yourself remain unvaccinated. The more individuals who will be inoculated, the earlier our fight against this disease will end,” Abalos stressed.
The MMDA has yet to roll out its vaccination program as it waits for the AstraZeneca vaccines it procured for its 8,000 personnel last year.