MANILA - The Department of Health said Friday it was still looking for healthcare workers who should be prioritized for the country's COVID-19 vaccination program.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told Teleradyo at least 1.8 million healthcare workers in the country should be inoculated first against the disease.

"Hindi pa rin natin sila nahahanap dahil nga po maraming mga health-care workers ngayon (We have yet to find them because many of our health-care workers) dealing with COVID are not affiliated in any of the institutions or facilities that we have right now," she said.

These health-care workers are reportedly doing freelance work or affiliated with private facilities, she added.

The agency has called on local government units to search for the remaining healthcare workers so they could be vaccinated against the new coronavirus.

As the COVID-19 vaccination drive is being rolled out in the country, Vergeire said those working in temporary treatment and monitoring facilities could be inoculated if healthcare workers were not available.

Healthcare workers conducting contact tracing, doing research or in laboratories and also those in private nursing homes can also be vaccinated, she added.

As of March, over 508,000 frontline health workers have received the first dose of COVID-19 jabs. Metro Manila led with the number of vaccinated recipients with 279,870, followed by Central Visayas with 110,760 and Calabarzon with 94,560.

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