Senator Grace Poe said Thursday, May 20, that she hopes that public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers will not be bumped off when the government starts vaccinating essential workers under the A4 priority group.
"Mahigit isang taon sa ilalim ng lockdown, hirap pa rin sa pag-ahon ang ating mga public utility vehicle driver. Napag-iwanan na nga sa ayuda, 'wag na natin silang ihuli sa bakuna (PUV drivers have suffered for over a year due to the lockdowns and are still struggling to recover. They were left out in the distribution of assistance, let's not put them last in the line of vaccinations)," Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee, said in a statement.
"Included in the A4 category of vaccinees, we hope they will not be bumped off the line and soon get their shots in the current rollout of the government's vaccination program," she added.
The Department of Health (DOH) reportedly eyes the simultaneous inoculations of economic and government frontliners under the A4 group, which consists of 17 subgroups.
First in line was supposed to be workers in commuter transport, covering land, sea and air transport, as well as logistics. Health Secretary Myrna Cabotaje told CNN Philippines in an interview Thursday, May 19, that they might forego the sequence to "simplify" the vaccinations.
"Our PUV drivers need the vaccine now given the critical frontline work that they do," Poe, for her part, pointed out.
"Throughout this pandemic, drivers have been a lifeline to their communities. They have ferried healthcare workers to hospitals, delivered food to people at home, and helped many businesses up and running," she also stressed.
"The vaccine will not only protect our drivers, but also strengthen the resilience of our essential transport services," Poe said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the vaccinations of the A4 group, as well as the A5 group consisting of indigent population, could start after May, or when local vaccine supply becomes "steady".