President Duterte ordered government agencies to launch a vaccination caravan to go to the slums and vaccinate informal settlers as the country faces a spike in coronavirus cases (COVID-19).

In his weekly public address on Monday evening, the President recognized that the people, especially the poor, are losing hope due to the prolonged lockdown.

"We're thinking of going mobile or if you are near the barangay, you just wait because ang order ko ngayon (my order now) is for the team to give you the vaccine," he said.

"Kung magdating na sa--- matapos na yung health workers, mga matatanda, kayo na ang sunod (Once we're done with the health workers and the seniors, you will be next)," he added.

The President said he wanted the mobile vaccination to start in three to five days but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III explained the different complications such as shortage of manpower, the monitoring of side effects, and the limited supplies of vaccines.

The indigent population is also the fifth-in-line in the government's vaccination program following health workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, and frontline personnel including uniformed personnel.

Duque, however, said that informal settlers would be prioritized once the country has sufficient number of vaccines.

President Duterte, meanwhile, asked government officials to let the poor people receive the vaccine first.

"Kung gusto ng mga nasa gobyerno, yun namang may trabaho, may pera konti, last na tayo. Unahin natin sila (If those in government want, or those who have jobs and money to spare, let's go to the end of the line. Let's prioritize them)," he said.

"So the priority will really be the squatters and we go to the squatters' area," he added.

The Philippines started vaccinating health workers on March 1 using at least a million vaccine doses donated by China and the COVAX Facility. The country is expecting 2.3 million more doses by the first half of April.