MANILA, Philippines — Members of President Duterte’s Cabinet are not in the Covid-19 vaccination priority list, but are willing to be prioritized if asked to help boost the public’s confidence, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Thursday.
“Alam niyo, hindi po kami kasama sa priority list kasi yan po ay talagang ang number one priority are medical and health frontliners,” Nograles said in an online briefing.
(We are not included in the priority list because the number one priority are medical and health frontliners.)
“Ayaw po namin maakusahan that we are jumping the line or naniningit po sa pila. Yun po yung iniiwasan natin. Pero kapag sinabi po, ‘Sirs, madam, kailangan niyo mauna para makatulong sa vaccine confidence,’ kami naman po ay willing,” he added.
(We don’t want to be accused of jumping the line or cutting the line. That’s what we are avoiding. But if they tell us, ‘Sirs, madam, you need to be first to help the vaccine confidence,’ we are willing.)
Nograles said that he himself is willing to be vaccinated with any brand as long as the Covid-19 vaccine underwent local regulators’ evaluation.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles. FILE PHOTO
“May nagsabi sa akin, ‘Willing ka ba kahit Sinovac?’ Opo, willing ako kahit anong brand. Para lang maipakita sa ating kababayan, basta dumaan ng FDA [Food and Drug Administration] yan, sigurado po ako ligtas yan,” he said.
(Someone asked me if I’m willing to be vaccinated with Sinovac. Yes, I’m willing to be vaccinated with any brand to show our countrymen that as long as it underwent FDA evaluation, I’m sure that it’s safe.)
The order of priority in the country’s vaccination plan are frontline health workers, senior citizens, indigent population, uniformed personnel, and other vulnerable population groups.
The government is also eyeing to vaccinate against Covid-19 those considered as “economic frontliners” like drivers and those working at the food industry by the second quarter of this year.