Priority list will be followed in AstraZeneca vaccine rollout, assures Nograles
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles assured the public that there will be no more breach in the priority list in the rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.

(PNA / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Nograles made the statement after some government officials were able to be vaccinated with the CoronaVac even though the doses were intended for health workers only.
In an interview with Super Radyo DZBB, Nograles acknowledged the condition set by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the priority list should be followed in the distribution of the British-Swedish vaccines.
"We're really sticking to the priority list," he said Sunday morning.
The Philippines received 487,200 AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility, a mechanism led by the WHO, on March 4. The vaccines were manufactured in South Korea and were donated by various countries, mostly from Europe.
Nograles said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is following the recommendation of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG), the panel that determines the order of prioritization of the government's vaccination program.
"Sila naman po talaga ang nagre-recommend talaga sa IATF kung sino talaga ang ipa-prioritize. Kami naman sa IATF, we stick to it (The NITAG is really the one that recommends to the IATF who should be prioritized. We, in the IATF, we stick to it)," he said.
On March 4, Malacañang admitted that the vaccinations of certain government officials did not abide by the vaccination priority list. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, however, said that the government had learned from these "breaches."
"We’re not perfect in implementing this protocol. We had a few breaches but we have learned from the breaches," Roque said.
Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief-of-staff Michael Salalima got vaccinated. Roque said the two officials did not know that the CoronaVac shots were for health workers only.
In his radio interview, Nograles said the breaches were really just a product of miscommunication.
"Hindi naman sadya na mag-jump the line pero (It was not their intention to jump the line but) we're sticking to that cue," he said.
"Kung ano ang nasa priority, yun ang susundin natin (Whatever is the order of priority, we will follow that)," he added.