Metro Manila cities kick off A4 vaccination
MANILA, Philippines — Starting Monday, a number of Metro Manila cities have officially begun vaccinating beneficiaries listed under the A4 priority group.
The A4 priority group consists of frontline workers and uniformed personnel, including:
- Private employees required to physically report to work
- Employees in the government
- Workers in the informal sector and self-employed who may be required to work outside of their homes and those working in private households
In an advisory, the Caloocan City government announced it was also opening vaccination for essential workers starting Monday.
The local government of Navotas City also started its inoculation of the A4 priority group or essential workers as some 400 city workers and residents got vaccinated at the Navotas Fish Port Complex.
Of these, 200 were scheduled to get their vaccine including the personnel of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, fish porters, and registered fisherfolk, while 200 others from A1-A4 priority groups were allowed to walk in.
“We need to inoculate essential workers to protect them from the virus and ensure that they are healthy and fit to do their jobs and livelihood. They do not just work to provide for their families; they also contribute in rebuilding our economy,” Mayor Toby Tiangco said.
“We understand that vaccines are limited. We hope to get more vaccines so we could continue providing protection to other members of the A4 priority group, many of whom want to be vaccinated,” he added.
Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano opened Monday the rollout for the vaccination of some 35 million workers under the A4 group at the SM Mall of Asia.
“The vaccination of those from the A4 sector is significant because they make up the backbone of the economy,” the local chief executive said.
Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez also announced on Facebook that A4 vaccination had begun at SM City Sucat.
Other cities yet to begin A4 jabs
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the Manila Islamic Cemetery, Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso said that the start of its A4 vaccination would depend on the supply of vaccines available to the city government.
"We're waiting for it. We were expecting today that the national government will announce. So if they announce today, rest assured that we are ready. The only missing thing is vaccines, they haven't been given to us yet," he said in mixed Filipino and English.
"We know this (A4) group is extremely large," city information officer Julius Leonen also said in a text message to reporters.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora also said in a text message to reporters: "We will be having a launch of A4 this week in our Greenhills vaccination center with the IATF." He did not say when this would take place.
In a separate statement sent to reporters Monday, the Quezon City local government said that it was still "gearing up" to vaccinate the A4 priority group.
“We are currently ironing out our strategies to make sure that we will be able to inoculate all workers belonging to this group, from vendors to those in the transport sector as well as government, employees of MSME’s and big business, and employees of the city’s 67,000 strong IT-BPO sectors," said Joseph Juico, head of the Quezon City Task Force Vax to Normal.
Juicio also said that the city’s plans include mobile vaccination trucks and buses, increasing the number of vaccine drive-through stations, and extending hours up to late at night so workers need not reduce work hours to get inoculated.
— Franco Luna
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