Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) — As the government rolls out the simultaneous vaccination of healthcare workers, elderlies, and people with comorbidities, the Health Department on Monday named seven illnesses that qualify for early access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Those under 65 years old with chronic respiratory disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, malignancy, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and chronic kidney disease can preregister to receive the vaccines now.
With over 14.5 million Filipinos living with comorbidities, the list was limited to seven illnesses for now due to the scarce supply of vaccines. There is no such limitation for senior citizens.
Dr. John Wong of the IATF-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics explained that these are the groups that are at high risk of getting severe COVID-19, which could lead to their intubation or even death.
DOH said AstraZeneca will be used for senior citizens, while Sinovac will be for those with comorbidities. Health experts giving medical advice to the government recommended that Sinovac’s CoronoVac can be given to individuals with controlled comorbidities.
“Ang bibigyan natin ng bakuna ay ang mga tao na may controlled na comorbidity. Ibig sabihin kung may high blood po kayo tapos hindi controlled ang high blood niyo, and during the time that you were assessed mataas siguro ang blood pressure, ima-manage po muna ‘yun bago siya mabakunahan,” she said in a media briefing.
[Translation: We will give the vaccines to those with controlled comorbidity. If you have high blood and it’s not controlled then you have a high blood pressure, it should be managed first before you can get vaccinated.
People with these comorbities need to present at least one of these: a medical certificate issued in the past 18 months, a prescription issued within the last 6 months, a laboratory result, or a surgical record. They will be evaluated by health workers to check if they are eligible to receive the vaccines.
The formal guidelines will be issued by DOH on Monday.
The national government has decided to undertake “simultaneous vaccination” of the top three priority groups to speed up immunization efforts amid the expected arrival of more doses this week. The Philippines has so far given out the first doses of vaccines to 656,331 people.
