Testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon on Thursday urged health workers to become “disciples or ambassadors of vaccination” once the inoculation program is rolled out to the general populace.

Dizon, also deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Against Covid-19, witnessed the symbolic vaccination ceremony at the St Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo City and the Western Visayas Sanitarium in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

He was joined by Department of Health (DOH) 6 (Western Visayas) Director Emilia Monicimpo, former Negros Occidental 3rd District representative Alfredo Benitez, and former DOH-6 assistant director Ma. Paz Corrales.

Dizon said through the vaccine rollout, they express their enormous gratitude to health workers for their sacrifices and hard work.

The vaccination program, he said, would give them 100-percent protection from severe disease and death.

“We want to honor you with this vaccination rollout. These vaccines are for you. What we are asking from you is that once you are vaccinated, later on when we reach the point when vaccinating our general population, please be our disciples or our ambassadors for vaccination,” Dizon said.

He noted that submitting to vaccination is the “ultimate way” to solve the problem and be able to return to normal.

With this, he said, people could go back to work, visit the malls, and eat out, which would pave the way for the improvement of the economy.

In a follow-up interview, Dizon said with the vaccine rollout, it looks like the “anxiety or uncertainty” felt by health workers over the Sinovac vaccines has been reduced.

“The most important is that the effectivity of the vaccine is 100 percent to prevent serious illness and death. That’s why our health workers now are all lining up to get vaccinated,” he said, adding that with the right information, all health workers would volunteer to get vaccinated.

Dizon said once the target recipients are vaccinated, the economy would open without fears that the health care system would be overwhelmed.

The vaccination for health workers, senior citizens, and the vulnerable sector is eyed to be completed middle of June this year.

Meanwhile, Monicimpo said the Western Visayas Sanitarium, which is a Level 1 hospital, was provided with 213 doses for the first shot of Sinovac.

“You are a hospital that caters to our mild and moderate Covid-19 cases in Iloilo province,” she said in her message.

The hospital will also receive their allocation of AstraZeneca no later than Friday. (PNA)