Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be given prioritization, as the Department of Health (DOH) pushes them to be placed higher in the COVID-19 vaccination priority list.
A health official said on Tuesday that they are proposing to move OFWs from the 10th to the 4th spot in the list.
During a hearing of the House health committee, Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said Filipino health care professionals working overseas will be part of the topmost priority.
“It was discussed already in the IATF. Those OFWs who are healthcare workers shall be included in the A1 priority list, provided that they can receive both doses of the vaccine in the country,” Vergeire said.
Vergeire added that the rest of OFWs will be moved up to the A4 category or essential workers.
“It has been given a positive consideration by the IATF. They just have to resolve this once the list is finalized,” she said. “So I think the OFWs will be upgraded into the A4 and the A1 list.”
The move will make them ahead of the indigent population, teachers and social workers, other government workers, essential workers, and other high-risk socio-demographic groups.
The government has so far inoculated nearly 700,000 healthcare workers nationwide.
