By Nanette Guadalquiver April 12, 2021, 8:03 pm

FRESH SUPPLY OF VACCINES. A new supply of 14,400 vials of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccines arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Negros Occidental on Monday (April 12, 2021). A total of 11,400 vials were received by the Province of Negros Occidental while 3,000 vials were allocated to the City of Bacolod. (Photo courtesy of PDRRMO-Negros Occidental)

BACOLOD CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) sent an additional 14,400 vials of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine to the Province of Negros Occidental and this city on Monday afternoon.

The latest batch of vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) from the national government arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on board the private plane of former Third District congressman and now Capitol consultant Alfredo Benitez, according to the report of the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT).

Provincial Disaster Management Program Division head Zeaphard Caelian, who is also the PIMT commander, said the supply included 11,400 vials for Negros Occidental and 3,000 vials for Bacolod.

Each vial of CoronaVac is equivalent to one dose.

This is the second delivery of the China-made vaccines to the province and the city this month after the arrival of 7,200 vials also at the Bacolod-Silay Airport on April 6.

In the previous delivery, 5,200 vials of Sinovac were received by the provincial government while the remaining 2,000 vials went to Bacolod City.

Last month, Negros Occidental received a total of 5,180 vials of CoronaVac, and 74 vials of AstraZeneca. Each vial of AstraZeneca contains 10 doses.

The vaccine supply received by the provincial government was distributed to district hospitals, local government unit-owned hospitals and health units, and private hospitals across the province.

In Negros Occidental, the Covid-19 vaccination program was launched at the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City on March 11, a day after the provincial government first received 1,600 vials of Sinovac.

The provincial government has ordered of 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines while the city government of Bacolod has secured 650,000 doses of the same brand expected to arrive in the third quarter of the year. (PNA)