Davao City on Tuesday received 12,000 doses of vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

At around 6:40 a.m. of March 2, a Philippine Airlines aircraft touched down at the Davao International Airport laden with a cargo containing 12,000 vials of the CoronaVac vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech.

Under heavy police security, the precious cargo was immediately whisked off to the Department of Health-XI office for storage. The vaccine roll-out in Davao City will begin on Friday at the Southern Philippine Medical Center (SPMC).

Dr. Ricardo Audan of the SPMC said he will be the first person to be vaccinated on Friday.

“Nag-volunteer ko (I volunteered) because I have to be a role model. I have to show to the people sa SPMC na safe, any vaccine intended for Covid is safe,” Audan said during the reception of the vaccine at the airport.

The 12,000 vials were part of the 600,000 CoronoVac vials that arrived in the country on Sunday.

The CoronaVac vaccine manufactured by Sinovac Biotech is an inactivated vaccine, a type of vaccine containing viruses whose genetic material has been destroyed to prevent replication, but can still elicit an immune response. This is similar to familiar traditional vaccines like those used to prevent polio and rabies.

The March 5 vaccine rollout at the SPMC will target to inoculate 150 frontliners. The vaccination will be done for two weeks to cover the 5,900 employees of the SPMC.

Meanwhile Department of Health-XI Regional Director Annabelle Yumang said they sent a request to their national office for another 4,000 vials of CoronaVac.