Media workers to be added in A4 priority group for COVID-19 jab —Dizon

Media workers will be included in the government’s priority list of workers for COVID-19 vaccination, testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon said Tuesday.

“Nakausap ko si [National Economic and Development Authority] [Acting] Secretary Karl Chua kahapon at ire-revise nila ang listahan na kasama na ang media sa A4 (I have talked to NEDA Acting Secretary Karl Chua yesterday and said they will revise the list to include media workers in A4),” Dizon said during the launch of the pilot test of the Vaccine Information Management System Immunization Registry (VIMS-IR) in San Juan City.

“Ang media ay frontliners kaya dapat makasama sa A4 (Media workers are frontliners that’s why they should be part of the A4),” he said.

On Monday, the government released a list of workers included in the fourth priority group for vaccination.

The following essential workers are part of the A4 sector, which is next in line after health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities:

• A4.1 - Commuter transport (land, air, and sea), including logistics
• A4.2 - Frontline government workers in justice, security, transport and social protection sectors
• A4.3 - Public and private wet and dry market vendors; frontline workers in grocery, supermarkets; delivery services
• A4.4 - Workers in manufacturing for food, beverage, medical and pharmaceutical products
• A4.5 - Frontline workers in food retail, including food service delivery
• A4.6 - Frontline government workers

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• A4.7 - Frontline workers in Financial Services
• A4.8 - Teaching and related personnel in medical and allied medical courses of higher education institutions, including personnel handling laboratories
• A4.9 - Frontline workers in hotels and accommodation
• A4.10 - Priests, pastors, religious leaders regardless of denomination
• A4.11 - Construction workers in government infrastructure projects
• A4.12 - Security guards/personnel assigned in the establishments, offices, agencies, and organizations identified in Table 1
• A4.13 - OFWs not classified above, and scheduled for deployment within two months

NEDA Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said those in the A4 group are workers with “high levels of interaction with or exposure to the public” and those part of sectors “needed to ensure security, consumer and worker safety, and those working in priority government projects.”

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire added that media workers are not included in the A4 sector as they belong to the “B” classification along with other workers.

When asked why media workers were not initially included in the A4 list, Dizon said, “Nakaligtaan lang ng NEDA pero ire-revise nila (NEDA just missed it but they are revising it).”

Senator Joel Villanueva has sought the inclusion of media workers in the government's priority list of COVID-19 vaccine recipients, calling them "information frontliners" amid the pandemic.

At a Palace press briefing, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said, “Hintayin natin ang susunod na IATF meeting, ako na po maglalabas [ng listahan] pati po ang klasipikasyon ng mga mamamahayag (Let’s wait for the next IATF meeting, I will releasing the list including the classification of journalists).” -MDM, GMA News