In the Philippines, the nation-wide rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began in 2021. To date, the Philippines has administered at least 141,959,452 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccination, although not a standalone control measure, is viewed as the top-most effective tool for protecting people against the said virus. As a corollary measure, minimum public health standards must still be followed to avoid transmission of the virus. Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11525 or the “COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act of 2021” (“R.A. No. 11525”), the policy of the State is to adopt an integrated approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential social services available to all people at an affordable cost. Given the challenges in procuring and administering vaccines for an immediate and efficient rollout nationwide, Section 5 of the R.A. No. 11525 allows the private entities to procure COVID-19 vaccines for its sole and exclusive use.

Given that the Philippines is working under the context of a limited global supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Disease (“IATF”) adopted the prioritization framework and criteria of the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (“iNITAG”) and the Department of Health Technical Advisory Group (“DOH-TAG”) for COVID-19 vaccines. The framework ensures that priority is given to those who have a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19, i.e., frontline health workers and uniformed personnel, and to vulnerable groups by principle of equity, i.e., senior citizens and the indigent population. The following are currently the order of priority...