The national government has finally started today the inoculation of the biggest chunk of its target – the economic frontliners.
At the ceremonial kickoff in Pasay City, the initial batch of workers required to physically go to work were vaccinated as the government hinted the kickoff as its first giant step towards economic recovery.
Cluster A4 Priority Sector is composed of around 35 million. They are the workers who are physically required to go on site for their job whether they are from the government, private, informal and even household sector.
“This is a game changer in our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“We want our workers to be safe while they return to work,” Roque added.
The government earlier divided the vaccination rollout of the A4 category into two phases.
· Workers in NCR+8 (Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao) and,
· Workers from the private sector working outside their homes, employees in government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations and local government units, informal sector workers and self-employed who work outside their homes and those working in private households, workers outside NCR+8, private sector workers who work outside their homes, employees in government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations and local government units and informal sector workers and self-employed who work outside their homes and those working in private households.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who was at the A4 vaccination rollout did some symbolic administering of jabs.
Interestingly, the vaccination of priority sectors A1, A2 and A3 has yet to be completed, Duque admitted.
As this developed, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said that at least 10 million doses of Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sputnik V vaccines are due to arrive in the country within the month.
The government only has eight million doses so far. These jabs are twodose vaccines which means the supply is only good for four million persons.