Categories B and C will have to wait until more vaccine doses arrive, DOH says
MANILA, Philippines — Schedules for the inoculation of priority categories B and C — which includes teachers and social workers — will have to wait until July, when more vaccine doses are expected to arrive, the Department of Health said Monday.
"Expanding to Sectors B and C, we will know that after some time. Maybe in July, we can see how stable our supplies are and we can already be able to determine if we can simultaneously vaccination with other sectors like what we are doing now," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said partly in Filipino.
Vergeire noted that the government is gradually expanding the vaccination program as it conducts simultaneous inoculation of categories. “But still, we need to ensure that our most vulnerable are given vaccines,” she added.
Metro Manila on Monday kicked off the vaccination of the A4 priority category, or those working in essential sectors. The inoculation of A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with co-morbidities) will also continue.
Indigents meanwhile fall under A5 and are next in line.
Category B covers teachers, social workers and other workers, including overseas Filipino workers. The rest of the Filipino population falls into Category C.
Data from the DOH on Monday showed that the government has given 5,965,651 doses to the Filipino people. Some 4,421,319 have received their first dose, while 1,544,332 individuals have been fully vaccinated.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said this weekend that nearly 10 million doses of COVID-19 jabs will arrive in the country in June.
COVID-19 infections in the country hit 1,276,004 on June 7, with 7,539 additions recorded on Monday. Of these, 58,854 are deemed active while fatality rose to 21,969. Recoveries stand at 1,195,181. — Kristine Joy Patag
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