The House of Representatives will not touch a single dose of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine allotted for first priority sectors under the prioritization framework and criteria of the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG).
This assurance was made Sunday, March 21 by Bataan 2nd District Rep. Jose Enrique “Joet” Garcia III following the launch of the ‘fake news’ campaign against the Lower House on social media.
“That’s fake news. It’s absolutely not true that there will be COVID-19 vaccination in the House coming from the COVAX facility in the next few days or coming week,” said Garcia, head of the HRep Congvax Program and vice chairman of the House Committee on Health.
The fake news that circulated in the social media claimed that the Lower House was set to conduct last week the vaccination program for congressmen, employees and their dependents.
It also asked why the House media has not reported this alleged vaccination schedule.
Reporters said there were not news articles about the supposed implementation of the vaccination program because it simply did not happen.,
“The House has allocated funds from its own budget for the vaccination of employees and their family members,” said Garcia.
“It is very clear that given the limited global supply of vaccines for COVID-19, the IATF has adopted the prioritization framework and criteria of the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) in allocating first tranches of vaccines against COVID-19 that will arrive in the country,” he explained.
Garcia stressed: “We are all aware that the resolution prioritizes frontline workers in the national and local health facilities.”
“The framework further lists vulnerable groups—like senior citizens and those with comorbidities—as the next priority for vaccination, and provides for sub-prioritization based on risk exposure or mortality risk and the process flow that citizens will undergo in the vaccination program,” explained the Bataan solon.
“It is clear to us that government employees can only be vaccinated once the priority groups are inoculated,” he said.