Robredo: Gov’t should start identifying recipients of COVID-19 vaccine

MANILA, Philippines — The government should now start listing down the names of those prioritized to receive the expected COVID-19 vaccine, Vice President Leni Robredo urged Sunday.

While she agrees with the plans to prioritize the poor and healthcare workers, Robredo said the names of these people should be determined as the country awaits an approved COVID-19 vaccine.

“Iyong naalala ko, uunahin iyong mga healthcare workers, tapos iyong mga indigents, basta lima yata o anim na prioritization, okay iyon. Pero iyong sabi ko, ang suggestion ko, pangalan na,” Robredo said in her weekly radio show.

(From what I remember, healthcare workers and indigents will be prioritized. I think there are five or six sectors to be prioritized, that’s good. But my suggestion is, list their names already.)

“Halimbawa, healthcare workers, dapat alam na natin, ilan ba sila? Ilan ba sila, sino sila, para kapag dumating, mayroon nang recipient. Hindi iyong gagawin natin iyong listahan kapag nandiyan na iyong vaccine. Kasi puwede naman iyong gawin ngayon,” she added.

(For example, we should now know how many healthcare workers will receive the vaccine. Who are they? When the vaccine comes, there are recipients. We won’t do the list only after the vaccine has been developed. We can already do that now.)

Apart from healthcare workers and the poor, uniformed personnel are also among those to be prioritized in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.

Earlier, pharmaceutical companies like Moderna and Pfizer already announced that the COVID-19 vaccines they are developing were found to be 94.5 percent and 95 percent effective, respectively.

/MUF