Another 35.5 million workers to get jabs with expanded A4 list

MANILA, Philippines — An additional 35.5 million workers are expected to be inoculated once supply of COVID-19 vaccines are ramped up, following the government’s decision to expand the A4 priority list.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said more Filipinos can be vaccinated with the inclusion of more workers in the A4 list as adopted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The A4 group was formerly focused on the industries of accommodation, transportation including logistics services, public administration and defense, manufacturing of food, beverages, medical and pharmaceutical products, religious organizations, food service, financial services except insurance and basic and higher education.

With the expansion, now included in the list are private sector workers who need to be physically present at their work place, employees in government agencies and instrumentalities, informal sector workers and self-employed individuals who work outside their homes and those working in private households.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua said there is a high risk of exposure for workers living or working in areas with a dense population or economic activity.

He added that it is important to accelerate vaccination in the NCR Plus 8 area which includes Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.

“There is a high demand for vaccines from the economic sectors. Vaccinating them will also help safeguard their families, our health gains and our economic recovery,” Chua said.

The first phase of vaccine deployment for the expanded A4 group will be focused on approximately 13 million additional workers in NCR Plus 8 since these areas make up the majority of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Another 22.5 million workers will subsequently be included from areas outside NCR Plus 8, bringing the total estimate to 35.5 million.

NEDA undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon emphasized that stronger engagement with establishments, agencies and organizations is needed to facilitate vaccine deployment to the A4 priority groups.

This is to ensure that the Philippines will get closer to its target of inoculating 70 million adult Filipinos by year end.

Meanwhile, health care workers, senior citizens and people with comorbidities – or those belonging to the A1, A2 and A3 groups, respectively – will continue to be prioritized for the vaccination program.

“Vaccines from the COVAX Facility will be used only for the A1, A2 and A3 categories, as well as for the A5 group or the indigent population, to ensure equitable access to vaccines especially among the most vulnerable,” Edillon said.

All doses given

The Department of Health (DOH) reported yesterday that all 30,000 doses of Gamaleya’s Sputnik V vaccine have been administered.

At a public briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said so far, there was no report of “severe or serious” adverse events among the 15,000 individuals who received the Russian-made jabs.

“All of the 30,000 doses have already been delivered in selected areas of Metro Manila. They have all been administered as first and second doses… We have not documented severe or serious adverse events or deaths from Sputnik V vaccine,” she noted

Vergeire claimed that guidelines will be formulated for the inclusion of the families of health care workers in the A1 priority group for vaccination.

“We must have guidelines on this. But maybe, the ‘nuclear family’ will be included initially because this will all depend on the number of doses that we have,” she added.

Nuclear family pertains to the spouse and their children. – Sheila Crisostomo