Bacolod City – Negros Occidental Governor Jose Eugenio Lacson is willing to be vaccinated with China’s Sinovac if it will be made available to him.
“Personally, I’m ready to take even Sinovac. It’s better to have one. It’s better to be vaccinated than just wearing a face mask and face shield. There’s more protection if we have ourselves vaccinated. If they will allow me, I’ll take it,” Lacson said in an interview on Thursday.
The 61-year-old governor said he believes that more people, including those in Negros Occidental, will agree to be vaccinated once they see that healthcare workers in Metro Manila did not experience adverse effects after they were inoculated with Sinovac during the rollout of the national vaccination program on Monday.
“We will be more protected if we get vaccinated,” he added.
Still, Lacson emphasized that even after having vaccinated it is still important to follow the minimum health standards.
The provincial government has committed to buy 100,000 doses of vaccines, primarily intended for medical front-liners, through an agreement with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines Inc.
Last month, the provincial government paid an initial amount of more than PHP4 million as a 20 percent advance payment for the vaccine order.
For the rest of the target population, Lacson said the province has asked for 3 million doses from the national government.
The 3 million doses will reach some 70 percent of the province’s total population, or some 1.5 million Negrenses needing two doses each.
(Nanette Guadalquiver via Philippine News Agency (PNA), photo courtesy of PNA)