Prosecutors included in early vaccination

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said government prosecutors nationwide were included in the priority list of persons who would get Covid-19 vaccines.

Guevarra said that two weeks ago the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) approved the vaccination of prosecutors of the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) National Prosecution Service (NPS).

Guevarra said the inclusion of the prosecutors in the vaccine priority list was initiated through a letter of the regional prosecutors to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).

“When the matter was reported during the IATF meeting, the DoJ vigorously supported the request for inclusion of the prosecutors, and the same was thereupon approved,” Guevarra said.

He said DoJ prosecutors have been classified as A4 or frontline personnel in the essential sector including uniformed personnel.

The prosecutors will get vaccinated as soon as their turn comes “but prosecutors who are senior citizens (A2) or who have comorbidities (A3) can get vaccinated now.”

Earlier, the National Task Force against Covid-19 (NTF) has already approved the inclusion of about 30,000 officials and employees of the judiciary in the A4 priority group.

The request of the Supreme Court (SC) dated 31 March stating that “justices, judges, and court personnel of the Philippine Judiciary (comprised of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and trial courts) are frontline government workers in the justice sector, whose functions are essential at all times, especially during the pandemic.

The letter request of the SC was acted upon by the NTF.