MANILA, Philippines — Prosecutors of the Department of Justice are now included in the vaccination A4 priority category for frontliners in essential sectors, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.
Guevarra told reporters Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the request of regional prosecutors to include them in the vaccine priority list of the government.
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“When the matter was reported during the IATF meeting, the [Department of Justice] vigorously supported the request for inclusion of the prosecutors, and the same was thereupon approved,” he added.
The vaccination prioritization category of A4 covers the entire National Prosecution Service, Guevarra also said. But prosecutors who are senior citizens or with comorbidities may receive the vaccine earlier, based on their categories as A2 and A3, respectively.
The National Economic and Development Authority on Monday listed the sectors included in the A4 priority group or frontline personnel in essential sectors.
Workers in these identified sectors will be next in line for vaccination after health workers, after health workers (A1), senior citizens (A2) and people with co-morbidities (A3).
The Supreme Court announced last week that nearly 30,000 employees and officers of the Judiciary have been included in the A4 category in the priority vaccination list.
A portion of the vaccines arriving in April will also be allotted for Judiciary personnel, a letter from then-Acting Chief Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe said.
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines had also asked the National Task Force Against COVID-19 to include lawyers in the A4 category, citing the “need for the justice sector to be operational in these trying and challenging times.”
The Palace said Monday that the Philippines has so far vaccinated at one million people against COVID-19, with 1,007,356 having received the first dose of vaccine and 132,288 inoculated with two shots.