Medical workers from the Ospital ng Paranaque inspects the first batch of Astrazeneca vaccine during a ceremonial vaccination.
INQUIRER file photo / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — Local chief executives have moved further up on the country’s COVID-19 vaccine priority group, Malacañang said Monday.
In an online briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said governors and mayors are now in priority group A1.5 “regardless of the risk classification of their respective LGUs.”
“Napagkasunduan ng inyong IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] na ang mga gobernador at mga mayor ay mapapabilang na rin po sa priority A1.5. Mga mayors at governors, mgpabakuna na rin po tayo,” Roque said.
(The IATF has approved that governors and mayors will be under priority A1.5. To mayors and governors, let’s have ourselves vaccinated.)
According to the Department of Health, other individuals under A1.5 priority group include contact tracers, social workers, workers of urban health centers, rural health units, and barangay health stations.
Previously, only governors and mayors within critical or high-risk areas for COVID-19 transmission were part of A1.5.
Local executives who were not included under the A1.5 sub-priority group were classified under the A4 priority group which includes frontline personnel in essential sectors.