VSU medical frontliners receive first COVID-19 vaccine shot

The first batch included 9 medical frontliners from the University Services for Health, Emergency, and Rescue (USHER) who availed of the most-awaited vaccination program of the national government.

Another batch of USHER staff was sent to the old WLPH building today, March 17, rounding up the total number of vaccinated VSU medical frontliners to 2 medical doctors, 1 dentist, 7 nurses, and 8 other USHER personnel.

VSU resident physicians Dr. Elwin Jay Yu and Dr. Merry Christ'l T. Guinocor along with university dentist Dr. Maria Belen J. Buzon led the USHER staff in this activity.

The second dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will soon be administered to all of them within two months, according to Dr. Yu.

Dr. Yu, who currently heads USHER, expressed his gratitude to both local and national governments for prioritizing medical frontliners for the national vaccination program.

“When we battled the COVID-19 pandemic in its first year, we were geared with minimum protection by only using face masks, ensuring social distancing, and frequent hand washing. But now that we are vaccinated, we hope that we may be able to serve our constituents with more efficiency and confidence because we know that we are protected,” VSU chief medical officer said.

Dr. Merry Christ'l T. Guinocor, another medical officer of VSU, also gets her first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ms. Zarlin Jecel Compedio, VSU nurse, explained why she took the opportunity of getting immunized immediately with the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The vaccine doesn’t make us invincible from the coronavirus, but I still grabbed this opportunity because I’m always at risk of being exposed to the virus,” she said.

Only a few staff of USHER showed signs of dizziness minutes after getting the vaccine but Dr. Yu assured that these side effects were completely normal.

The local vaccination program here in Baybay City will continue tomorrow and will inoculate more medical frontliners working within the city in the days to come.

VSU medical frontliners pose for a photo op right after vaccination to increase public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.