Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 30) — Senator Francis Tolentino on Sunday urged the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force to cascade down to other priority groups the limited vaccine supply to hasten the government’s vaccine rollout.
Under a “waterfalls policy,” Tolentino said the IATF could reallocate the reserved doses for those under the A2 and A3 categories who refused to get their anti-coronavirus shots.
“Kapag ayaw ng A3, bigay sa A4. Kapag ayaw ng A4, bigay sa A5. Kapag ayaw ng A5, bigay sa B1. Palagay ko, ubos lahat ‘yan,” the senator said in a radio interview.
[Translation: If those in A3 cluster refuse, then give it to A4. If those in A4 cluster refuse, then give it to A5. If those in A5 refuse, then give it to B1. In no time, I think all the vaccines would be used up.]
Those under A2 and A3 categories are senior citizens and people with comorbidities, respectively. Meanwhile, frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel, are under the A4 category.
Tolentino believes the number of people who wants to get vaccinated outweighs the number of those who are still hesitant about getting vaccinated.
He cited the case of personnel from the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine Coast Guard, who have yet to receive their vaccine shots despite being in the frontlines.
According to Tolentino, the military has reported over 7,000 COVID-19 cases among its personnel as of March 21, while the PNP said a total of 23,869 policemen have contracted the virus as of May 30.
Tolentino added that there is a need to strengthen the information dissemination campaign to encourage more people to get inoculated against the coronavirus.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. said over four million Filipinos have so far received their shots.
