The free vaccination of the country's medical frontliners would take less than a month as soon as the vaccine supplies start to arrive in the country, Malacañang said Sunday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured the swift vaccination drive for health workers, the first among the priority recipients, saying the health department has already prepared the list of names.
Around 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from the COVAX facility, a global initiative to ensure equitable access to vaccines, are expected to arrive this month. It is expected to be the first shipment of the vaccines secured by the government abroad.
An additional five million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca are also scheduled to arrive in the country soon under the World Health Organization (WHO)-backed vaccine scheme.
"So inaasahan po natin na sa buong linggo nito, sa buong buwan na darating eh at least lahat ng medical frontliners at saka mga immediate na may priority ay at least nasimulan na (We expect that this week, this coming month, the vaccination of at least all the medical frontliners and immediate priority groups will begin)," Roque said over DZBB Sunday, Feb. 7.
"Pero definitely hindi po aabot ng isang buwan para matapos natin ang lahat ng medical frontliners (But definitely it won't take a month to complete all medical frontliners)," he added.
Roque said the health workers in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) referral hospitals, such as Philippine General Hospital (PGH), Jose B. Lingad General Hospital, and Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), will be among the initial beneficiaries of the vaccines.
Next in line will be the health personnel in Department of Health (DOH) hospitals, local government hospitals, and private hospitals.
"Dahil inaasahan nating magsisimula na tayo sa a-kinse. Mayroon na pong mga listahan iyan. Sa katunayan iyong mga medical frontliners, kumpleto na po ang mga pangalan nila (Because we expect to begin this 15th, there is already a list. The list of names of the medical frontliners is complete)," he said.
"Sa PGH na isa sa pinakamauunang bibigyan po noong darating na Pfizer, may limang libong pangalan na po silang isinumite. Sabi naman nila mabilis nilang mababakunahan iyong limang libo nila (In PGH which is one of the first to get the Pfizer vaccines, they have submitted 5,000 names.
They said the vaccination of 5,000 personnel can be done quickly)," he added.
Ahead of the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, the government task force recently expanded the list of priority groups by including persons with comorbidities or those with underlying health conditions.
First on the government’s list will be the frontliners workers in health facilities in public and private health facilities, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, and barangay health workers.
Senior citizens and persons with comorbidities will be the next beneficiaries of the vaccines, followed by the frontline workers in essential sectors including uniformed personnel.
The list also includes the indigent population, teachers, social Workers, other government workers, other essential workers, socio-demographic groups at higher risk other than senior citizens and indigenous people, overseas Filipino workers, the remaining workforce, and the rest of the Filipino population.