PH finalizing A1 vaccine priority group, frontliners masterlist

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) is in the process of finalizing the master list of persons under the A1 priority group or workers in frontline health services as vaccination rollout looms.

“We are now in the process of master listing group A1, so as early as January this year, we have reached out to facilities and local governments who will encompass this group A1,” DOH-Covid-19 Surveillance and Quick Action Unit deputy chief, Dr. Razel Nikka Hao said in a virtual briefing on Friday.

Masterlisting, a local government unit-led (LGU) initiative, is the first step of all pre-planning activities needed to be done for the nationwide vaccination program.

Some 116,000 healthcare frontliners have so far been included in the A1 group master list in the National Capital Region, Hao said.

Once done, Hao said the names and data collected would be endorsed to the LGUs, who would plan how to go about with the front-liners’ inoculation process.

She said the government is still working to improve and close the gaps in its vaccination flow but the “ideal pathway” for the general population goes by the following:

1. Open call
2a. Masterlisting – May be sourced from LGUs or facilities
2b. Self-registration – A parallel system for those not on the master list
3. Health profiling/screening of the individual to determine their eligibility for a shot
4. Identification of specific vaccines to be used
5. LGU scheduling

“Our medical societies are also developing clinical practice guidelines on how to go about vaccinations in very specific patient groups for example pregnant, those with immunodeficiency, and other special populations,” Hao said.

The LGUs, meanwhile, continue to improve their so-called “micro-plans”, which include establishing networks within both private and public facilities in their areas, training, and simulations.

About 117,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine would be made available by mid-February and an estimated five million to nine million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine by the 2nd quarter of 2021 from the COVAX Facility.

“Because of the limited supply of Covid vaccines globally, we need to do prioritization. Kaya kailangan natin i-list ang lahat ng at-risk, lahat ng vulnerable, para sila yung umpisahan natin at tayo ay magkaroon ng maayos na pagbabakuna,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.

Vergeire said the current vaccines reduce the risk of severe disease and risk of death, and are most suited for those with a higher risk of exposure and death.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, for his part, said while wastage is “inevitable” it should be kept “as minimal as possible” especially for Covid-19 vaccines.

At the same time, he called on the public to continue following the minimum public health standards as “vaccine only serves as an added protection from risks of virus infection.”

The Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (iNITAG) earlier adopted the following priority population groups for inoculation:

A1: Frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, etc.
A2: Senior citizens aged 60 years old and above
A3: Persons with comorbidities not otherwise included in the preceding categories
A4: Frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the IATF as essential during ECQ
A5: Indigent population not otherwise included in the preceding categories
B1: Teachers, Social Workers
B2: Other Government Workers
B3: Other essential workers
B4: Socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and indigenous people
B5: Overseas Filipino Workers
B6: Other Remaining Workforce
C: Rest of the Filipino population not otherwise included in the above groups