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127,614 essential workers already vaccinated: DOH
MANILA – Around 127, 614 individuals under the government’s A4 (economic front-liners) priority list have been inoculated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of June 12, a health official reported on Monday.
In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said apart from the limited supply of vaccines, the implementation of minimum health protocols in the vaccination sites is another challenge the government has observed since the vaccination of the A4 sector started.
Vergeire noted essential workers crowd in vaccination sites because of their “eagerness to receive Covid-19 jabs”.
“Sana po ang ating mga local governments will be able to have a more organized manner, yung masterlisting magamit natin (I hope the local governments will be able to have a more organized manner through masterlisting) so that people will be scheduled and there will be no crowding in our vaccination sites,” she said.
She also urged local government units to implement strategies that would make vaccines more accessible to the most vulnerable members of the society – individuals with comorbidities and senior citizens.
“Kung kailangan magbahay-bahay na ginagawa na ng ibang local governments ngayon sana maisagawa natin (It would be good if door-to-door vaccination, which other local governments already did, is implemented),” she said.
In the same forum, Vergeire said Bulacan received 30 percent of the vaccines allocated for Central Luzon is similar to 30 percent of the vaccines received by other areas in the National Capital Region.
“So, kung titingnan po natin ‘yung mga pagbibigay natin and we compare it to the other areas in National Capital Region (NCR) halos pareho lang sila sa mga city na mayroon tayo dito sa Metro Manila kapag brineak down natin ng isa-isa (if we look at the vaccine distribution to the plus areas and we compare it to that of NCR, they receive almost the same supply with the cities in Metro Manila),” she said.
Vergeire was responding to reports that Bulacan has not started with the vaccination of its A4 sector due to lack of vaccines as the bulk of the supply is given to the NCR.
She emphasized that areas inside the NCR Plus, which includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, were prioritized in terms of vaccine supply because of the “geographic burden of infections”.
“Bulacan started with the vaccination of their A3 population and the total of their vaccinations among their A3 population is already at 39,442,” she said.
“Mas mataas pa ho ang binabakuna ng Bulacan sa A3 nila kaysa sa A1 nila kung saan 32,565 lang ang nabakunahan na healthcare workers and para sa senior citizens nila 77,512 (Bulacan’s A3 vaccination is higher than their A3 where 32,565 healthcare workers only were vaccinated and for senior citizens there were 77,512)” she added.