The Department of Health advised local governments and companies to prioritize older workers in receiving vaccines if supplies in their communities remained limited as the government began the vaccination of economic frontliners on Monday, June 7.
“It is in our guidelines… that the workers may be stratified according to age so that we are aligned with prioritizing the vulnerabilities or risks faced with COVID-19,” Vergeire said. Aside from protecting older age groups, Vergeire said the DOH proposed this considering vaccine shipments expected for the month would not be enough to cover workers under the A4 group. The vaccination of economic frontliners is being done simultaneously with the ongoing vaccination of remaining health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities, which are part of the first three priority groups.
“We recommended that they may use age stratification so that once vaccines arrive, distribution will be more organized and rationalized,” Vergeire said.