Duque to recommend moving up OFWs to A4 category in vaccine priority list

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Friday vowed to recommend to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to upgrade the category of overseas Filipino workers to A4 in the priority list of the government's vaccination program.

At present, OFWs are in the B5 category of the vaccine priority list, Duque said during a House committee meeting.

"Opo, ako po mismo ang mangangatawan sa Inter-Agency Task Force na iangat po ang estado dito po sa ating prioritization framework... mula po sa [B5] ay itaas po sa A4 (I will personally ask the IATF to move up the OFWs in the prioritization framework, from B5 to A4)," he said.

He said he and Undersecretary Rose Edillon of National Economic and Development Authority met before the hearing and the latter also expressed support to the upgrade of the OFWs in the priority list.

They also agreed to include the OFWs who are healthcare workers in the A1 priority, OFWs who are senior citizens in A2 while those with comorbidities in A3 and all the rest in A4.

According to Duque, he will discuss the matter with other Cabinet officials. He said the government might give a resolution to the matter by Tuesday next week.

"By Monday, I think we will be able to do this sa meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force. Bago pa 'yun, kakausapin ko po ang iba pang kalihim na ito'y suportahan at makakapagbigay po kami ng kasagutan siguro baka mga Martes po," he said.

Duque said lists from concerned agencies such as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are needed to verify the number of OFWs who are presently in the Philippines and those who need to return to the countries where they are employed as part of scheduling the vaccination of OFWs.

At present, medical frontliners are those on top of the vaccine priority list.

These include workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, among others.—AOL, GMA News