Around 127, 614 individuals under the government’s A4 (economic front-liners) priority list have been inoculated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of June 12, a health official reported on Monday.

In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said apart from the limited supply of vaccines, the implementation of minimum health protocols in the vaccination sites is another challenge the government has observed since the vaccination of the A4 sector started.

Vergeire noted essential workers crowd in vaccination sites because of their “eagerness to receive Covid-19 jabs.”

“I hope the local governments will be able to have a more organized manner through masterlisting so that people will be scheduled and there will be no crowding in our vaccination sites,” she said partly in Filipino.

She also urged local government units to implement strategies that would make vaccines more accessible to the most vulnerable members of the society – individuals with comorbidities and senior citizens.

“It would be good if door-to-door vaccination, which other local governments already did, is implemented,” she said.

In the same forum, Vergeire said Bulacan received 30 percent of the vaccines allocated for Central Luzon is similar to 30 percent of the vaccines received by other areas in the National Capital Region.

“So, and we compare it to the other areas in National Capital Region (NCR), if we look at the vaccine distribution to the plus areas and we compare it to that of NCR, they receive almost the same supply with the cities in Metro Manila,” she said partly in Filipino.

Vergeire was responding to reports that Bulacan has not started with the vaccination of its A4 sector due to lack of vaccines as the bulk of the supply is given to the NCR.

She emphasized that areas inside the NCR Plus, which includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, were prioritized in terms of vaccine supply because of the “geographic burden of infections”.

“Bulacan started with the vaccination of their A3 population and the total of their vaccinations among their A3 population is already at 39,442,” she said.

“Bulacan’s A3 vaccination is higher than their A3 where 32,565 healthcare workers only were vaccinated and for senior citizens there were 77,512)” she added partly in Filipino.