Palace says vaccine supply enough to include families of soldiers

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines — There would be enough Covid-19 vaccines for those on the government’s priority list even with President Duterte’s directive to include soldiers’ families among the initial recipients of the jabs, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

Roque explained the President’s decision to include soldiers’ families on the priority list by saying that this was meant to show how much he values their contribution to the country.

This would not change the order on the list, Roque said.

“He just expanded it to include the families of the soldiers, and that’s out of recognition on the part of the President that the men in uniform are playing an important role because theirs is the maintenance of peace and order in our society,” he said in a press briefing.

The first on the government’s list of priorities for the Covid-19 vaccines are the front-line health workers, followed by indigent senior citizens, other senior citizens, the rest of the indigent population, and uniformed personnel.

Roque said there would be enough vaccines for them even if soldiers’ family members would be added to the list.

“Do not worry because in our initial list, 24 million would be vaccinated. If at all, some two million would be added to this if there are three members of a family of the men in uniform. And there are many more vaccines we expect to arrive by the second or third quarter of the year,” he said.

He added that the Palace would leave it up to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to decide how to implement the President’s directive.

During a visit to the Kuta Heneral Teodulfo Headquarters in Jolo on Friday, Mr. Duterte assured the soldiers that they would be among the priorities for the vaccination drive, along with members of their family. INQ