Malacañang has already made public the specific number of people who will be given COVID-19 vaccines, divided depending on the sector they belong to.
There are two different types of priorities regarding immunization: geographical and sectoral priorities, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque clarified.
“Ngayong malapit na po ang bakuna… uunahin nating bigyan ng COVID-19 vaccine ang mga lugar na maraming kaso ng COVID-19 tulad ng Metro Manila, Metro Cebu at Davao. Ito po ang geographical priorities,” Roque said in a briefing on Monday.
“Pero sa huling pagpupulong po, inilinaw po natin at binigyan ng depenisyon kung ano ‘yung tinatawag na sectoral priorities, [kung] sinu-sino ang nasa prayoridad na mabibigyan ng bakuna laban sa coronavirus.”
Here are the top 5 priority sectors and the number of populations it will provide per group:
- 1st priority- Frontline health workers (1,762,994)
- 2nd priority- Indigent senior citizens (3,789,874)
- 3rd priority- Remaining senior citizens (5,678,544)
- 4th priority- Remaining indigent population (12,911,193)
- 5th priority- Uniformed personnel (525, 523)
Palace releases COVID-19 vaccine priority list
“Ang una sa listahan po ay ang ating mga frontline health workers. Obviously po, kinakailangan bigyan na sila ng bakuna nang magampanan nila ang kanilang katungkulan nang walang pag-aatubili,” Roque said.
“Sila ang nangunguna sa ating laban sa COVID-19, natural lamang na sila ang mabigyan natin ng proteksyon laban sa virus.”
The number one priority includes those who work in public and private health facilities, hospitals, contact tracers of local government units (LGUs), barangay health workers, etc.
Second, are the indigent or poor populations aged 60 and above (senior citizens). After giving them, the third priority is the remaining seniors.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for US Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have previously stated that there is a greater chance of the elderly being in critical condition or dying due to severe illness caused by SARS-CoV-2 – the virus-carrying COVID-19.
“Ang sumatutal ng numero na bibigyan ng prayoridad ay 24,668,128. Ang ating oorderin [na bakuna] ay [para sa] 30 million individuals o 60 million dosage,” Roque said.
According to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, only 66% of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated against the deadly virus once the COVID-19 vaccines arrive in the country.