CITY HEALTH Officer Dr. Dulce Miravite said they are awaiting guidelines from the Department of Health or DOH for the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines for the general population, including children ages 12-17 years old.
“We are preparing for this and we are awaiting guidelines from the DOH,” Miravite said, adding, they will use the data from the National Immunization Program as reference for the inoculation of children. “Everything is still being finalized.”
The vaccination of the general population or those who do not belong in any of the vaccination priority groups set by the DOH has been approved by President Duterte last month.
This was also confirmed by Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, who said the government expects to receive a big supply of Covid-19 vaccines this month. “Ito po’y inaprubahan ng Pangulo sang-ayon po sa advice ni Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez, at magsisimula na rin po ang ating pagbabakuna ng ating mga Kabataan. Ang pinaghahandaan po natin yung masterlisting pa lang naman. Pag meron na po tayong masterlist antayin po natin ang anunsyo kung sino ang mauuna,” Roque said.
He assured though that while the general population and children will be added to those who can get jabbed with a Covid-19 vaccine, those who belong to Priority Groups A1 to A3 will not lose their prioritization.
Roque was
referring to the health workers, senior citizens and those with comorbidities.
“Magkakaroon po
tayo ng express lane para sa kanila. Pero ang importante lang, dahil nandyan na
po ang supply, at ang naging problema naman natin dati ay kakulangan ng supply,
ngayong maraming supply eh sisimulan na po natin ang bakunahan ng general
population,” he said.
The government and the DOH continue to encourage the public
to get inoculated against the deadly respiratory disease, but the supplies of
Covid-19 vaccines are lacking.
Across the country,
residents are flocking to vaccination sites, but many of those who registered
with health centers or through the Internet have not received any schedule for
their inoculation.
Some have waited
for months, but until now did not get any reply from the government. And others
had claimed unequal distribution of the vaccines or favoritism, nepotism and
undue influence and even bribery in the mass vaccination program.
And many
provinces and cities have not received its equal share of the vaccines and some
even got more than what others were given.
The Philippines
has over 110 million population and is lagging behind some Southeast Asian
countries in vaccine procurement.
According to a
report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, with vaccines being
approved for use in different parts of the globe, the scale and complexity of
their manufacture, allocation and distribution globally will be unprecedented.
It said this will
also present corruption risks that may threaten vital public health goals. These
risks include the entry of substandard and falsified vaccines into markets,
theft of vaccines within the distribution systems, leakages in emergency
funding designated for the development and distribution of vaccines, nepotism,
favoritism, and corrupted procurement systems.
“These corruption risks must be identified and mitigated by public institutions to help advance access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines by the population, including the most vulnerable and marginalized groups,” it said. (Zamboanga Post, Mindanao Examiner)
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