ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro on Friday welcomed the inclusion of frontline personnel in basic education and higher education institutions and agencies to the A4 vaccine priority.

The lawmaker urged the government to speed up the procurement of vaccines so that there would be enough for all those who need it.

“Para saan ang priority list kung wala namang bakunang maituturok sa mga pinakanangangailangan ng bakuna para tuluyang mapabagal ang pagkalat ng Covid19 sa bansa? May mga siyudad na ngayon na pansamantalang itinigil muna ang pagtanggap ng schedule ng mga magpapabakuna mula sa A1-A3 priority dahil paubos na ang bakuna, paano pa kaya ang mga nasa A4 priority na kasama na ang malaking bilang ng working population ng bansa?” Castro said.

She stressed that teachers and education support personnel are frontline workers who continue to provide education to the youth despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“More and more teachers have fallen ill due to the virus as many are still expected to report to school or conduct home visits to their students. Their inclusion in the A4 priority will be a step towards ensuring safer back to school for education personnel. The Duterte administration should now ensure that there are enough vaccines for all those in their priority list,” the lawmaker said.