Cebu, Philippines — Members of the media should also be considered in the priority list of the government’s national COVID-19 vaccination program without prejudice to other frontliners, the poor and vulnerable sectors, Sen. Bong Go said yesterday.
Go said reporters are also frontliners who risk their safety in the field to keep Filipinos informed of the country’s coronavirus situation.
“The media, for me, can also be considered a very important sector of society because they are also frontliners, because they are the ones who bring the news, what to do in the area, they are the ones who are exposed,” said Go in an interview after the turnover of a fire truck and a government grant to cooperatives in Kibawe, Bukidnon.
As the Philippines aims to start rolling out vaccines against COVID-19 soon, President Duterte was urged by Go and officials of the National Task Force against COVID-19 to certify as urgent a measure seeking to expedite the procurement of vaccines by local government units and establish a vaccine indemnity fund.
On the other hand, Go said he is willing to be vaccinated in public along with Duterte to allay the fears of the public over the safety and efficacy of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
Go said he and Duterte are willing to serve as examples to get the confidence of the Filipinos on COVID-19 vaccines.
He added that Duterte is just waiting for clearance as to what type of vaccine will be inoculated to him.
50,000 vaccinators needed
Meanwhile, some 50,000 vaccinators are needed to roll out the government’s vaccination program against COVID-19, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said yesterday.
At a press briefing, Vergeire said the Department of Health (DOH) has come up with the estimate in preparation for inoculating members of the population determined as “priority” for the COVID-19 jabs.
“Based on the sectors we are currently looking at, we will need roughly around 50,000 vaccinators to carry out this deployment program for the priority population,” she said.
As of Feb. 16, a total of 186,562 health care workers are in the Master List of vaccinees, followed by more than 1.4 million senior citizens, then three million indigents and 164,000 uniformed personnel.
Aside from doctors, other health care professionals are allowed under the law to vaccinate, said Vergeire. These include nurses, midwives and pharmacists.
“We assure (the public) that only health care professionals who are authorized by law will administer the vaccines,” she said. “Our cadre of vaccinators also underwent strict training.”
Since December 2020, some 4,000 vaccinator-trainees have been undergoing “end-to-end” training in partnership with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
The training covers preparation, handling of vaccines and the monitoring of those inoculated. – Sheila Crisostomo