The government is ready with a list of substitutes should the persons on the priority list fail to show up on their scheduled vaccination date, a health official said Wednesday.

“Considering the fact that these vaccines are valuable, we don’t want to have wastage in our deployment program. So, we have this quick substitution list,” Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing.

“We have instructed already the initial sites for vaccination that they should have this number of individuals which should substitute for those who would be refusing on that day itself,” she added.

In an earlier television interview, Vergeire said they are also prepared for the vaccinees who might refuse getting the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Persons who have been inoculated would be tracked using the DOH database and masterlist and encourage them to complete the doses.

Vergeire assured the public that the vaccines are effective and safe to use, having been granted an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

The country is set to receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine starting mid-February through the World Health Organization-led COVAX Facility.

Healthcare workers nationwide would be prioritized in the vaccination program. (PNA)