Rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive at the Sta. Ana Hospital. (Image from the Facebook of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso)
MANILA, Philippines — Local government unit (LGU) officials are not in a higher priority group in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.
Duque said healthcare workers remain the top priority in the COVID-19 vaccination program, followed by barangay health workers.
“Hindi pa. Kasi uunahin pa rin natin yung ating mga healthcare workers mula sa mga ospital, sa mga temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, mga isolation and quarantine facilities,” Duque said in an interview on Teleradyo.
(Not yet. We will still prioritize healthcare workers from hospitals and temporary treatment and monitoring facilities as well as quarantine facilities.)
On Thursday, there were reports that the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) has approved the request of the national president of League of the Cities of the Philippines (LCP) to classify local chief executives among the priorities for vaccination.
“Tapos ang susunod dyan mga barangay health workers dahil sila naman ang talagang face-to-face sa mga maraming tao at mga suspects at probable cases ng COVID-19,” he added.
(Then barangay health workers will be prioritized next since they are the ones who have face-to-face contact with a lot of people as well as suspected and probable COVID-19 cases.)
REUTERS/Yves Herman
Under the government’s current priority groups, frontline workers in health facilities are given the highest priority, followed by senior citizens, persons with co-morbidities, frontline personnel in essential sectors, and indigent population not otherwise included in the preceding categories.
The following category includes teachers and social workers, other government and essential workers, overseas Filipino workers, and other remaining workforce.