MMDA chair mulls “express lane” for A1-A3 once gov’t opens A4 vaccine slots

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Benhur Abalos Jr. on Wednesday suggested opening “express lanes” for persons belonging to the A1 to A3 once the government starts the vaccination for A4 priority group or the essential workers.

“There is one thing we could do and what we could do is have an express lane para 'yung mga naiiwan [those who were not vaccinated yet], for example, you are a senior citizen, person with comorbidities, then you open now the A4,” Abalos said in an ANC interview.

This after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday suggested opening vaccination slots to those who are “willing” to get the COVID-19 vaccines to speed up the government’s vaccine rollout.

Abalos maintained that the problem in the vaccine rollout is still the global supply, but he said once these arrive in the Philippines, the problem would be the immediate utilization of the COVID-19 vaccine doses.

So far, Abalos said Metro Manila is administering 120,000 COVID-19 jabs per day, expressing confidence that the government will achieve herd immunity in Metro Manila by November.

“That is why the target in the Metro is November. If everyone is united, this is achievable,” he said.

Early this May, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government expects to achieve its target of herd immunity in the NCR and nearby provinces by November.

So far, the Philippine government has administered a total of 4,097,425 COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide as of May 22.

An average of 162,513 COVID-19 jabs were administered daily, according to the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19.

The Philippines is eyeing the inoculation of 50 to 70 million individuals this year to achieve herd immunity.—AOL, GMA News