A medical group on Saturday, May 29, has welcomed the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to place family members of health workers in the A1 group in its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination drive.
Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Benito Atienza said during the Laging Handa briefing that some health workers are hesitant to go home after their hospital duties in fear of passing the virus to their unvaccinated kins.
"Matagal na po naming hinihingi yan at nagpapasalamat po kami sa IATF na pinagbigyan po ang hiling namin. Ang nagiging problema po namin kahit po ang mga health worker at mga doktor po ay baka po tayo mahawa rin at nakita po natin na kahit na nabakunahan na yung mga doktor at nurse meron pong mangilan-ngilan pang nahahawa pa rin (We have been asking for that for a long time and we are grateful to the IATF for granting our request. The problem is that even vaccinated doctors and nurses may still get infected)," Atienza said.
" pwede pa rin po tayong mahawa ng mild COVID, yun po yung nangyayari sa iba na pag uuwi sa bahay, may agam-agam pa rin ang health workers kasi nga po wala pang bakuna ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay na kasama sa bahay (Vaccinated health workers may still be infected with mild COVID, that's what happens to some when they go home, health workers are still worried because their loved ones haven't been vaccinated yet)," he added.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said immediate family members of health workers will be attended to "once vaccine supply becomes available."
The IATF likewise included to A1 group outbound overseas Filipino workers for deployment within the next four months.
A total of 12.25 million vaccine doses against COVID-19 are expected to be delivered in the country in June, Secretary Carlito Galvez announced on May 26.