Medical workers and other frontliners should be prioritized when the Philippine government obtains a vaccine for COVID-19, former health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said on Sunday.
Cabral, in an interview on ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo, said these include doctors, nurses, hospital workers, social workers, and policemen, among others.
They will be followed by the vulnerable population, including the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions and with comorbidity, and finally by the general population, Cabral said.
“If government will pay for the vaccine, then the priority are those exposed to the disease such as healthcare workers and other frontliners,” she said.
The Philippines has initially allotted P2.4 billion for COVID-19 vaccines, the Department of Health earlier said.
At least 3 percent of the population should be immunized under the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility, according to Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Philippines has a financing plan to purchase at least 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines once it becomes available to be administered for free to the poorest 20 million Filipinos.
The government is currently coordinating with at least 16 COVID-19 vaccine developers, with President Rodrigo Duterte banking on Russia's vaccine.
Cabral, however, said Filipinos should not expect that the country will be among the first to acquire COVID-19 vaccines if, for example, they become commercially available by December.
“We are not first in line. And the line is long. You must have heard in the news, and I've also heard that many countries have invested hundreds of millions of dollars already in these vaccine developers. So of course they are the priority to receive the vaccine,” Cabral said.
“We are among those last in line. So, if the stock is plenty, we may purchase. But if it's not enough, then we wait until the stock is replenished,” she added.