Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed that health workers of three COVID-19 referral hospitals will be inoculated first when the 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrive this month.
The three hospitals are the Lung Center of the Philippines, Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
The vaccination prioritization of frontline workers and administrative staff of the hospitals is due to the consideration of Metro Manila as COVID-19 epicenter.
The elderly population will possibly be administered with the vaccine after health workers since they are vulnerable to severe COVID-19 cases.
Duque said there is no need to hire additional workers when the vaccines arrive as there are currently sufficient vaccinators. Vaccinators are now undergoing seminars for the COVID-19 immunization program.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has requested an additional amount of ₱362 million for genome sequencing in line with the bio surveillance on new COVID-19 variants.
Senator Christopher Go said he will talk to Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado and President Rodrigo Duterte to discuss whether the contingency fund for the matter can be taken from the executive branch. – Report from Louisa Erispe
