MALACAÑANG has officially identified the sectors in the government’s priority list for its initial vaccination against the virus from Wuhan, China.
Interestingly, numbers corresponding each sector, appeared much lower than what has initially been announced by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez.
In a briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told newsmen that Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Davao are “geographical priorities” for the vaccination, even as Roque hinted on the government’s selection that would see some 24,668,128 getting the first shot of the vaccines.
The breakdown is as follows:
· 1,762,994 frontline health workers
· 3,789,874 indigent senior citizens
· 5,678,544 remaining senior citizens
· 12,911,193 remaining indigent population
· 525,523 uniformed personnel
The government breakdown, Roque added, accounts for more than 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 108.8 million, as of the third quarter this year.
Interestingly, Roque’s number is way below that what has been announced by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez who said that 35 million Filipinos are on the priority list.
Others following the list issued by Roque are as follows:
· teachers and school workers in the public and private sectors
· all remaining government workers
· “essential workers” in agriculture, the food industry, transportation and tourism
· socio-demographic groups in significantly higher risk areas other than the senior citizens and indigent population (persons deprived of liberty, persons with disabilities, and Filipinos living in high-density areas)
· overseas Filipino workers
· other remaining workforce
· students
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier allowed the emergency use of vaccines and drugs against COVID-19, 10 months into the crisis that has seen nearly 440,000 people infected and the economy dragged into recession due to prolonged quarantine restrictions.
2020-12-07