Duterte expands vaccination priority group to now include economic and govt frontliners
Workers in essential businesses, uniformed personnel, and national government frontliners, all of which belong to the A4 priority group, are now scheduled to receive their COVID-19 vaccines soon.
“Inaprubahan na ng ating pangulo ang expansion natin sa economic frontliners at national government frontliners sa mga susunod na linggo,” testing czar Vince Dizon said during the palace briefing early today.
Dizon said the Department of Health will release guidelines in the next few days regarding the vaccination schedule of the A4 group, which will be done in partnership with the private sector.
“Kailangan natin ng cooperation ng mga private sector dahil ang economic frontliners din nila ang babakunahan natin pati ang government agencies,” said Dizon.
Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the vaccination of the A4 group may begin by the end of May along with the expected arrival of more vaccines. The vaccination of the A5 priority group, which covers the indigent population, may also start shortly after.
Galvez said 500,000 more Sinovac doses are expected to arrive this week. The government said that the total doses expected this month will reach 7.8 million doses. For June alone, Galvez said this may reach 10.1 million more, bulk of which is 4.5 million doses from Sinovac. The 250,000 doses from Moderna, which was procured by the private sector, is also expected to arrive next month.