'Get vaccinated' hospital chief advises public

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Jan. 18 (PIA) - Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) Chief, Dr. Bryan Dalid, has called on people to trust the government and get the COVID19 vaccine.

During One Davao Presser on January 18, 2021, Dalid assured that the government has the people's best interest.

"Whatever vaccine that we choose or the government chooses for the national vaccine government program, I am sure napag-aralan po eto ng ma-igi (I am sure this has been studied well)," he said.

"Hindi po eto ibibigay sa atin kung ito'y hindi makakatulong na mabawasan ang burden natin sa COVID19. Kaya wag ho kayong mag alinlangan (They won't just give this to us if it won't relieve us from the burden of COVID19. That's why don't hesitate [to get it])," he added.

Amidst the concerns about the Sinovac vaccine efficacy, Dalid assured that a 50% vaccine efficacy does not mean it's ineffective or that it will be useless.

"Kase po depende po yan sa subset kung paano nila ginawa yung research nila sa vaccine... meron naman pong WHO na guidelines diyan na I think ang 50% efficacy ay acceptable na siya (Because it depends on the subsets of how they did their research on the vaccine...there is a WHO guideline I think that says 50% efficacy is acceptable)," he said.

Dalid explained that getting the vaccine is the only way to solve the COVID19 problem.

"If we will not have this vaccination, isang taon pa po eto. Hindi na kakayanin ng ating mga healthcare workers ang another year na ganito po kase talagang mag be-breakdown na po (If we will not have this vaccination, this will go on for another year. Our healthcare workers can no longer go for another year like this, because they really will breakdown)," he said.

In Davao del Norte, DRMC is one of the main government medical facility in the Davao Region, catering COVID19 patients from Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, and nearby provinces in the Caraga Region.

Currently, Dalid claims that DRMC has reached over 100 percent occupancy rate of severe and critical COVID19 patients for Intensive Care Unit (ICU) despite the initial expansion of ICU beds.

As such, Dalid is thinking of having another expansion to prepare for the new COVID19 strain. (Jan Vincent Leuterio/PIA-XI)