President Duterte wants his Cabinet members to be inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine because he considers them frontline workers, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Thursday, March 4.

The Palace official said that Duterte has been inquiring when his Cabinet members will get inoculated with the vaccine, but that they have to refer and discuss this with the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG), which handles the guidelines on the procurement and distribution of vaccines.

“I believe he considers the Cabinet (members) as frontline workers. We are very much exposed because we make rounds doing the simultaneous ceremonial inoculation,” Nograles said in a virtual presser.

“Masyado kami expose kaya nag-aalala lang si Pangulo kaya (We are too exposed so that’s why the president is concerned). We will refer the matter to the NITAG and ask for them to consider looking at the possibility kung maaari ‘yung mga Cabinet members lalo na iyong pinaka-exposed (if the Cabinet members who are more exposed) might be inoculated as well.”

The country received a donation of 600,000 doses of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine on February 28 and has since started rolling these out to health care workers in major cities in the country.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque earlier said they proposed to the NITAG to allocate doses to government officials, celebrities, and influencers to boost the public’s confidence in getting the vaccine, but the NITAG thumbed down the proposal.

Nograles admitted that the country has a limited stock of vaccines this first quarter, so the Cabinet members will only be inoculated “anytime the NITAG feels the stocks are sufficient.”

Some 525,600 doses of AstraZeneca, a donation from the COVAX facility, are scheduled to arrive in the country on Thursday night. But these, together with the Sinovac doses, are barely enough for the country’s 1.4 million medical frontliners.

Nograles said the Cabinet members are willing to be inoculated with China’s Sinovac “it is something that will really help boost up the confidence level.”

“And of course, the President also wants our Cabinet members, officials to be vaccinated because we're also quite exposed to the virus. So we will defer to the NITAG. When the NITAG feels that it's time, then anytime we're ready.”

Although it has the emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drugs Administration, the agency did not recommend its use for healthcare workers and senior citizens, raising doubts as to its efficacy in preventing COVID-19.