MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights on Thursday warned that jumping the country's priority list for vaccination deprives healthcare workers of badly-needed jabs and imperils the country's inoculation program. The CHR said this in response to "reports of public personalities, government officials, and non-frontliners jumping the vaccination queue meant for health care workers." Under the government's rollout plan, only some 1.7 million healthcare workers should currently have access to the vaccines. But it was the chief executive himself who first excused unauthorized inoculations and the jumping of the priority list in the country. "We continue to stress that an effective national vaccination strategy is a vital component of an efficient national health care program, and is an important component of the equitable distribution of vaccines," CHR said.

Source: Philippine Star March 25, 2021 03:00 UTC