The Department of Health said indigent Filipinos part of the A5 priority sector might be vaccinated against COVID-19 through COVAX Facility if there are enough supplies.
“Alam naman po natin, hindi pa ganoon kadami ang ating supply. Ito (vaccinating A5) naman ay allowed na, pero it will depend on the supply (We know that the supply is insufficient. This is allowed, but it will depend on the supply),” she said in a briefing.
“So if local governments, nakikita nila na kaya na base sa kanilang allocations, then they can do it naman because guidelines are there, [the WHO] pronouncement is there, wala po tayong iva-violate,” she added.
(If local governments see that they can vaccinate the A5 based on their allocations, then they can do it because guidelines are there, [the WHO] pronouncement is there, we are not violating anything.)
The Philippines is one of the recipients of the largest supply of COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX Facility, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in March.
The WHO further asserted that there would be problems with access to the vaccine if the prioritization of health workers is not followed.
A5 group maybe vaccinated via COVAX if supplies stabalize
“If we cannot demonstrate that we are following this prioritization, unfortunately, the COVAX may have to consider other options where the impact of the vaccine rollout will be more useful and practical and will contribute to saving more lives,” said Abeyasinghe.
It is unclear whether COVAX will stop providing the vaccine if prioritization is not met.
The WHO said to follow the set of the DOH and National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG).
Meanwhile, about 100,000 additional doses of Sputnik V vaccine from Russia arrived in the Philippines Friday night.
Qatar Airways Flight QR928 landed at NAIA Terminal 3 carrying the vaccines before 11 p.m.
Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. welcomed the shipment and Russian Ambassador Pavlov Marat and other officials.
According to Galvez, these vaccines will first be placed in the buffer stock and deployed where needed.
Visit our Facebook page for more news updates.