MANILA, Philippines — Athletes set to compete in international events as well as workers in the liquefied petroleum gas industry are now included in the priority list for vaccination against COVID-19, Malacañang said Friday
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the government’s task force on pandemic response had approved the recommendation to the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group to prioritize the inoculation of athletes, coaches, delegates and officials to Tokyo Olympics and Southeast Asian Games.
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Liquefied petroleum gas dealers, retailers and attendants also “now form part” of the approved A4.2 priority group for vaccine deployment under the “retail trade operators and frontliners.”
The task force also recommended to the iNITAG that frontline employees of the business process outsourcing industry and the Commission on Elections be included in A4 group.
The A4 priority group, the fourth priority group in the inoculation program, is composed of economic and government frontliners. Health workers, senior citizens and people with comorbidities make up the top three priority sectors.
The government is gearing up to vaccinate economic frontliners and indigent Filipinos in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao, with the goal of achieving herd immunity in these areas by November.
More than 786,000 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 58 million to achieve herd immunity. Meanwhile, 2.5 million have received their first dose.
The Philippines has so far reported 1.16 million infections, including 19,641 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico