Specific priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination

Malacañang on Friday released the list of specific priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19.

The priority list is as follows:

A1: Frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, etc.

A2: Senior citizens aged 60 years old and above

A3: Persons with comorbidities not otherwise included in the preceding categories

A4: Frontline personnel in essential sectors including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases as essential during an enhanced community quarantine 

A5: Indigent population not otherwise included in the preceding categories

B1: Teachers, social workers

B2: Other government workers

B3: Other essential workers

B4: Socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and indigenous people

B5: Overseas Filipino Workers

B6: Other remaining workforce

C: Rest of the Filipino population not otherwise included in the above groups

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the list was adopted by the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (iNITAG).

Roque said the iNITAG also underscored that any specific inclusion and exclusion criteria of each vaccine, as reflected in the respective Emergency Use Authorization of the Food and Drug Administration, or recommendations from the Health Technology Assessment Council, should be considered.

The selection of areas for sub-prioritization will be based on the following factors:

• Burden of disease due to COVID-19 (current active cases, attack rate per 100,000 population in the past four weeks, and population density)
• vaccination site and/or local government unit readiness, particularly, its supply chain capability

Previously, the Department of Health said the priority groups included the frontline health workers, indigent senior citizens, remaining senior citizens, remaining indigent population, and uniformed personnel.

The Philippines aims to begin its mass inoculation program this month. —KBK, GMA News