Individuals listed under the priority sector A4 (economic front-liners) in the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination are encouraged to bring along a senior citizen to also be administered with a vaccine.

Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, Covid-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in a virtual presser Tuesday said this was discussed following a meeting with the Department of Health (DOH).

“This incentive will allow A4 individuals to be vaccinated while bringing in more senior citizens kay sila man ang daling matakdan sa maong sakit (they are the ones vulnerable to contracting the disease),” she said.

More people from the A4 sector have signified their intention to be inoculated, but Estacion said due to a short vaccine supply, they could not yet fully cater to this priority group.

She said workers who would tag along an elderly would be prioritized for inoculation.

Those included in the A4 group are employees from the private sector and government agencies who have to work outside of their residences, informal sector workers, as well as self-employed individuals.

The proposed strategy would also allow senior citizens to walk-in if they are accompanied by A4 individuals at the vaccination centers, Estacion said, “so that we can achieve our target of 133,000 senior citizens vaccinated”.

Walk-in among the elderly is not allowed under the provincial IATF’s rules.

Currently, almost 25,000 senior citizens in the province have received the vax jabs, Estacion noted.

The province of Negros Oriental received Monday 40,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine, half of which will be for the second dose of previously inoculated residents while the other half is allocated for the first dose. (PNA)