By Fernan Angeles
THE government hinted at prioritizing vaccination in areas with a minimum recorded COVID-19 active cases of 3,000 and up, says vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Thursday.
In a statement, Galvez said that among the areas that the government is particularly looking at Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban, even as the official expressed optimism that they would be able to start vaccination effort next year.
“Lahat po ng mga tumaas nang mahigit 4,000 o 3,000 ang kanilang active cases, uunahin po natin ‘yan. Kasama po ang Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, at Tacloban City,” he said.
Other areas Galvez identified include the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.
Galvez, also the chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, added that cities are priorities as they are usually economic centers and have COVID-19 cases.
Other priority sectors also include essential workers in the business sectors and government officials.
He added that vaccines will be administered for free to the priority recipients, and free of politics, at that.
Earlier, Galvez said that more than 35 million Filipinos will be prioritized to receive vaccines against COVID-19, adding the priority list came from the Department of Health (DOH) and was created with the guidance of President Rodrigo Duterte.
As a strategy, Galvez said the vaccination will start in areas that are severely affected by the pandemic as well as those considered as business centers so the country will immediately feel its effect.
Then, the vaccination will proceed to accommodate the priority sectors, he said.
“Ang pinakauna nga is healthcare workers at saka yung mga frontliners. Kasama po sa mga frontliner na ito ay mga police at sundalo, at saka ‘yung ating mga serviceman,” Galvez, a retired military general, said.