By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio Leonardia enjoined Bacolodnons here to get vaccinated after five doctors and a nurse received the Sinovac vaccine Friday.
In a press statement Leonardia said that last March 20, 2020, Bacolod registered the first Covid-19 case in Western Visayas and last Friday, March 5, 2021, Bacolod also recorded the first vaccination in the region.
“We find this significant and meaningful,” the mayor said.
He said that the vaccination of the first batch of medical frontliners, led by Dr. Miguel Sarabia of the Negros Occidental Medical Society and Dr. Dolores Rommela Tiples-Ruiz of the Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, was a breakthrough in our fight against this disease.
Leonardia lamented that because of fake news and unfounded claims of some misguided elements, people’s hesitation on whether to vaccinate or not has heightened.
“So here we are – with our prominent doctors serving as models to boost confidence in the vaccines, we hope to turn the tide.” he said.
“These doctors know what this is all about. They fully comprehend the circumstances and the possible side effects of these vaccines, yet they volunteered to get the shots. The reason is simple: they know that the vaccine is safe. We hope this message resonates down to all sectors of our community and that more of you will now agree to getting vaccinated.”
He added that “more than this, we wish to see that, soon, our people will realize that this is the answer to the crisis. Millions and millions had already been vaccinated worldwide and have we ever been told of serious results from it of alarming proportions?”
Leonardia further exhorted “Let us put our trust in competent authorities instead, and not with any Tom, Dick and Harry who will expound on seemingly scientific ideas when, in fact, these are simply products of their own personal suppositions.”
“Let the World Health Organization, Department of Health, and the Food and Drugs Authority be our guide; not those pseudo experts and pretentious geniuses. The vaccine against Covid-19 is here now but we don’t think anyone can ever develop a vaccine against fear.”
