DOH: Persons with any of 7 comorbidities prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination

Amid a shortage of vaccines, the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said people with any of seven comorbidities linked to severe illness or death from COVID-19 will be inoculated during the simultaneous vaccination of the top three priority groups.

Dr. John Wong of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)’s data analytics team said persons with the following comorbidities are at higher risk of severe disease, intensive care unit admission, or death due to COVID-19, according to 2020 data:

• Chronic respiratory disease
• Hypertension
• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Malignancy
• Diabetes mellitus
• Obesity

“Including persons with comorbidities in the vaccination priority groups will relieve pressure on the health system and save lives,” he said in a briefing. “Because of the current scarcity of vaccines, we have to prioritize those at highest risk for hospitalizations and deaths.”

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said individuals with any of the said comorbidities will need to present a medical certificate issued within the last 18 months or a prescription given over the past six months indicating their condition.

“All of these will be evaluated by our vaccination sites,” she said.

The DOH will release guidelines on the simultaneous vaccination of health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities later on Monday.

Vergeire said there are around 1.8 million health workers, 9 million senior citizens, and 14.5 million people with comorbidities.

However, not all persons with comorbidities will be eligible for the current vaccine rollout due to the limited supply.

“We will have this sub-prioritization dito po sa ating mga taong may comorbidities and we will include first dito sa initial run ng pagbabakuna with comorbidities ito pong may mga sakit na nabanggit kanina ni Dr. John,” Vergeire said.

(We will have this sub-prioritization of people with comorbidities and we will include first in the initial run those with comorbidities mentioned by Dr. John earlier.)

Simultaneous vaccination

Over the weekend, the IATF adopted a policy allowing the simultaneous vaccination of the top three priority sectors.

Previously, only health workers were permitted to get vaccinated.

Vergeire said “this strategy was borne out of the fact that we are having increase in the number of cases.”

She added that evidence showed “that in other countries, they were able to speed up their vaccination by having simultaneous vaccinations.”

“Key [ito] sa ating gustong ma-achieve na mabawasan ang mga naoospital at mabawasan ang mga namamatay is the speed of vaccinating individuals at ito po ay strategy ng ating gobyerno para bumilis ang ating pagbabakuna,” she said.

(The key to reducing hospitalizations and deaths is the speed of vaccinating individuals and this is the strategy of the government to fast track inoculations.)

The Philippines has vaccinated 656,331 individuals as of March 27.  — DVM, GMA News