US-based Filipino doctor receives COVID-19 vaccine

Published December 20, 2020 7:57pm Updated December 21, 2020 5:21am A Filipino doctor based in the United States was among the first to receive the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Willard Palustre was twice suspected of getting the illness as he was showing symptoms but didn't test positive for COVID-19. With the grant of emergency use authorization for the vaccine, he was among the first to be inoculated. "It's emotionally, you know, draining, mentally exhausting, physically lalo na and ikaw being a healthcare professional. With the vaccine coming in, medyo nabawasan 'yun. Nabawasan 'yung takot mo because you know sa sarili mo na in the next you know, few months or year, puwedeng ang COVID-19 is memory na lang siya," he said in a report by JP Soriano on GMA's 24 Oras. Four days after receiving the vaccine, Palustre said there were no major side effects and he is set to receive the second shot of the vaccine after three weeks. "Parang flu shot lang. I would say may konting — a little bit of swelling. 'Yun lang but wala naman akong... hindi ako nagkaroon ng respiratory symptoms. I didn't have any fever. There's no allergic reaction as well," said Palustre. For the Philippines, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said earlier this month that talks are ongoing and are being sped up, but procurement contracts are likely to be signed by January 2021. The government allocated P73.2 billion for the procurement of the vaccines, with P40 billion coming from multilateral agencies, P20 billion from domestic sources, and P13.2 billion from bilateral agreements. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM/KG, GMA News

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