Manila started inoculating medical frontliners with Sputnik V vaccines on Tuesday at the Sta. Ana Hospital, after receiving the jabs formally on Monday.
Sputnik V was developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
The City of Taguig also began administering the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccines yesterday.
At least 20 people were among the first batch of residents who received the vaccines at the Lakeshore Vaccination Hub in Barangay Lower Bicutan.
Vice Mayor Maria Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna-Pangan said medical frontliners will be inoculated first before proceeding to other priority groups set by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Tasked Force (IATF).
The vice mayor said they will follow the protocol on the categories laid out by the IATF and the DOH. The first category was medical frontliners, under the A1 category, Lacuna-Pangan said.
Present during the vaccination were City Administrator Felix Espiritu, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, DOH-NCR Director Dr. Gloria Balboa, and Assistant Secretary of Health Elmer Punzalan.
Acting City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan said the vials are sufficient to vaccinate 3,000 medical frontliners from the six district hospitals and national government hospitals in the city.
Sta. Ana Hospital Director Dr. Grace Padilla said that while about 70 percent of the hospital’s healthcare workers have already been vaccinated, those who haven’t been jabbed are still encouraged to get inoculated.
About 79,593 medical frontliners, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities have been vaccinated by the Manila City government as of 6 pm on Monday, May 3. Out of this number, 25,341 have received their second dose.
Taguig Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano thanked the national government and members of its COVID-19 task force for giving the city 3,000 Sputnik V vaccines, out of the 15,000 doses delivered last Saturday.
Aside from Taguig, the national government also distributed the said vaccines to cities of Manila, Makati, Paranaque and Muntinlupa.
Dr. Jennifer Lou De Guzman, head of the Taguig National immunization Program, said the city government provided an insulated box that can store 25 vials of the Sputnik V vaccines.
The box is also equipped with a global positioning system which will allow users to track its movements anytime and is also capable of maintaining the vaccine storage temperature at -18 degrees within five “openings” after which it requires transfer to another box.
“It has a temperature monitoring device. On top of that this is connected to a GPS which can monitor the exact location of this box,” she said.
City officials said the 3,000 doses from the national government are good only for the initial shots and they are waiting for another shipment to complete the second doses.
Sputnik V vaccinees need to wait 21 days before their second shot.
Mayor Cayetano earlier said the city government is prepared to deal with the logistical requirements of the Sputnik V, saying local officials are aware of the sensitive storage requirements of the Russian-made vaccines.
“We have a vaccination site, our Lakeshore vaccination site that can do anywhere from 400 to 800 vaccinations a day, it’s just five minutes away from our cold storage facility, so I think we can do it,” Cayetano said.
He also said Sputnik V vaccines will be a great help in the city’s ongoing fight against the pandemic as it provides his constituents an additional weapon against the deadly disease.