DILG backs prioritization of A4 COVID-19 vaccine recipients aged 40-59

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Tuesday expressed support to the call on local governments to prioritize the vaccination of A4 recipients aged 40 to 59 years old amid the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the local government units will proceed with the inoculation with other ages under the A4 category when the supply of vaccines stabilizes.

“Yes we agree. For prioritization in the A4 category while the supply situation stabilizes. But this is without prejudice to the simultaneous vaccination of the A1 to A3,” he told GMA News Online in a message.

“It’s just because supply is limited but once the supply stabilizes, we will proceed with the other A4 ages,” he added.

In a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte and several Cabinet officials on Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III proposed the prioritization of the age group given the tight vaccine supply.

He advised local government units to accommodate first the inoculation of those aged 40 to 59 years old before shifting to individuals aged 18 to 39 years old.

The government officially started the vaccination of those under the A4 category or the labor force on Monday, covering around 35 million people.

The vaccination rollout for the A4 category was divided into two phases — first, the inoculation of workers in Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao or the NCR+8; second, for workers outside the NCR+8.

So far, the Philippines has around eight million doses of COVID-19 vaccine since the vaccination program started on March 1. Brands delivered to the Philippines to date include Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Sputnik V.

As of June 6, a total of 1,544,332 people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

The country has so far recorded 1,276,004 COVID-19 cases with 1,195,181 recoveries and 21,969 deaths. —KBK, GMA News