Newly delivered AstraZeneca jabs reserved for vulnerable groups

MANILA – Most of the newly arrived AstraZeneca vaccines will still be used for the inoculation of the A1 (health workers), A2 (elderly), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) categories.

National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Saturday the two million doses delivered on Saturday from the COVAX facility will assure that those who received the first dose will complete their vaccination.

The British-Swede jabs will be deployed to areas with higher attack rates and active Covid-19 cases, Galvez said.

“Initial recipients should be the healthcare workers nationwide, so the majority of the vaccine doses will be given to various hospitals nationwide, including barangay health emergency response teams,” he said in a press conference.

Around 20 to 30 percent of health professionals and medical workers nationwide have not yet been vaccinated, Galvez noted.

“We encourage our healthcare workers to get vaccines for them to get protected,” he said.

The initial 1.3 million doses of AstraZeneca procured by local government units and the private sector will start arriving in June, followed by 800,000 doses in July.

Galvez said the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines signifies the unity of all nations “in terms of pushing one goal – to finally end the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The government targets to protect up to 70 million Filipinos this year toward herd immunity.

So far, the Philippines has received 2,556,000 doses of AstraZeneca, five million Sinovac doses, and 15,000 Sputnik V doses.