Get vaccinated, AFP chief tells soldiers

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 8, 2021): Get vaccinated, AFP chief tells soldiers (By Priam Nepomuceno)

READY TO TRANSPORT. A Philippine Air Force Black Hawk helicopter prepares to transport Sinovac Biotech CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccines on Monday (March 8, 2021). Over 19,800 doses of Sinovac vaccines have been brought to different military and civilian fields units in the country. (Photo courtesy of PAF)

As the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ramped up the vaccination of its medical front-liners, AFP chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana on Monday urged all military personnel to take part in the government's inoculation program to protect themselves and their families against Covid-19.

Sobejana made this call as the AFP transported some 19,800 doses of the Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine to different military units nationwide.

"We encourage every member of the AFP, to take part in the government’s vaccination program. This is not only meant to protect yourself from the virus, but also to encourage our families and others, who are still undecided to be inoculated,” Sobejana said.

Sobejana joined the transport of 1,200 doses of the vaccine to Davao City and led the ceremonial vaccination of Camp Panacan Hospital’s (CPH) front-line workers, catering to the military and civilian personnel of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

“This afternoon, I am very proud and optimistic to be part of this symbolic vaccination drive of our national government here at Camp Panacan Hospital in Davao City. Lahat tayo ay umaasa na sa bawat bakuna ay simula na rin ng ating pagbangon sa naging malubhang epekto ng pandemya sanhi ng Covid-19 (All us are hoping that every vaccine is also the start of our recovery from severe impact of this Covid-19 pandemic),” he said.

Lt. Col. Reniel Dimayuga, Deputy of the Health Service Center-Eastern Mindanao along with Maj. Ares Macailing and Capt. Victor Salvador Dato of the CPH were inoculated with CoronaVac vaccines.

Aside from the Eastern Mindanao Command in Davao City, Basa Air Base and the Clark Airbase, both in Pampanga, received 1,200 vials of the Covid-19 vaccine each.

Meanwhile, Camp Aquino in Tarlac received 2,400 vials while Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija got 1,200 doses.

Naval Station Agbenar and Wallace Air Station, both located in La Union, 600 vials each while the Philippine Military Academy received 3,000 vaccines on Monday.

Two Black Hawk helicopters of the Philippine Air Force transported 1,200 doses to Southern Luzon Command headquarters in Camp Nakar, Quezon and another 1,200 to the Cavite Naval Base.

Some 600 doses were delivered to the 9th Infantry Division headquarters in Camarines Sur and another 600 vials were transported to the Naval Station Jukhasan Arasain in Legazpi, Albay.

An NC-212i light-lift aircraft brought 1,200 vaccines for the 3rd Infantry Division in Iloilo while some 600 vials were allocated for the Central Command in Cebu, and 1,200 doses for the 8th Infantry Division in Samar.

As of Monday, a total of 5,293 personnel have already been injected with their first dose of CoronaVac in six military treatment facilities, mostly in Metro Manila.

Two more Blackhawks were also utilized to deliver 1,800 doses of CoronaVac and 58 boxes of personal protective equipment to Basco, Batanes on Monday.

These were received by the officials from the Department of Health-Batanes, Provincial Health Office, and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office prior to storage at the Provincial Health Office facility.

A total of China-donated 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine arrived on Feb. 28, including the 100,000 vials given by the Chinese Defense Ministry to the Philippines’ Department of National Defense.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132966