Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 10) — COVID-19 response deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon clarified Wednesday that retailers are already part of the government’s vaccine priority list since they are considered essential workers.
Last week, the Philippine Retailers Association reportedly wrote to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force, to ask if frontline retail sector workers could also be prioritized in the government’s vaccination program, arguing these people are regularly exposed to the general public.
The government recently released its priority list based on health experts’ recommendations. First in line are frontline workers in the health sector, followed by senior citizens and people with comorbidities who are at greater risk if they catch COVID-19. Next are frontline personnel in essential sectors. The full list could be found here.
Initial 117,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in the country this month, officials said. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. previously said these are reserved for 56,000 employees of four public hospitals that serve as COVID-19 referral centers: the Philippine General Hospital, Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium or Tala Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, and East Avenue Medical Center.
US drugmaker Pfizer was the first to receive Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine from the country’s drug regulator, followed by British firm AstraZeneca. Other vaccine makers have pending EUA applications at the Food and Drug Administration.
“Kasama naman sila sa essential workers, part ng priority list,” Dizon said in an ambush interview.
[Translation: Retailers are essential workers, who part of the priority list.]
For his part, acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua chief Karl Chua said the current prioritization program is already good as is.
“Maganda na iyong ating (We already have a good) prioritization program. We start with the frontliners sa health and those providing public service, then the most vulnerable — the senior citizens, the poor people, followed by the general population, so I think we have a coherent plan. This plan, I think, is the one that will help everyone move forward,” National Economic and Development Authority chief Chua said Wednesday in a briefing.
