NEDA RECOMMENDS PRIORITY SECTORS FOR A4 GROUP VACCINATION
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has submitted its recommendations for the official list of priority sectors and eligible workers under the A4 priority group for vaccine deployment.
“The government is working to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines, which can help facilitate the gradual reopening of the economy. Given the scarcity of the current vaccine supply, NEDA has identified the sectors or groups that have high levels of interaction with the public, and are needed to ensure security, consumer and worker safety. By prioritizing these sectors, we are also indirectly protecting the millions who avail of their services,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said.
As the lead agency for the Recovery Cluster of the National Task Force against COVID-19, NEDA has recommended the inclusion of around 12.8 million frontline workers from nine industries or sectors to the A4 priority group:
- Accommodation;
- Transportation including logistics services;
- Public administration and defense;
- Manufacturing of food, beverages, medical and pharmaceutical products;
- Religious organizations;
- Food service;
- Financial services, except insurance; and
- Basic and higher education.
Examples of eligible workers include commuter transport drivers or operators (land, air, and sea), food and small parcel delivery workers, market vendors, hotel and restaurant frontline workers, financial services frontline workers, and teaching personnel in educational institutions.
Public sector workers in charge of clearances, taxes, incentives, and field personnel of the Philippine Statistics Authority are also qualified.
In addition, overseas Filipino workers scheduled for deployment within two months may also be considered in the A4 group, as long as they provide a copy of their latest verified employment contract.
“We will continue to prioritize vaccinations for groups A1, A2, and A3. The government targets to begin the vaccination of the A4 priority group in July, as the vaccination of the first three groups nears completion,” NEDA Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon explained.
These other priority groups are as follows:
A1 – Frontline workers in healthcare facilities, health professionals, and non-professional students in health and allied professions courses with clinical responsibilities, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, etc.
A2 – Senior citizens (aged 60 and above), and
A3 – Adults with comorbidities not included in the preceding categories.
“We also project that vaccine supply will be widely available by September 2021, with enough doses to inoculate groups A1 to A4 and to begin vaccine deployment for the remaining adult population not included in the first four priority groups,” said Undersecretary Edillon.
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