Parañaque mayor: Actor Mark Anthony Fernandez 'eligible' for early COVID-19 vaccination

ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1646659" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATE) </strong>— Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said Wednesday that actor Mark Anthony Fernandez has &quot;comorbidities&quot; that made him eligible to be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccination next to medical frontliners and senior citizens.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/01/25/18/uncut-how-imprisonment-changed-mark-anthony">UNCUT: How imprisonment changed Mark Anthony</a></li></ul><p>In an interview with ANC, Olivarez addressed social media posts showing the actor getting an AstraZeneca jab, with some questioning the inoculation amid limited supply supposedly for frontliners.</p><p>&quot;Kinausap ko po &#x27;yung ating city health office Dr. Olga Virtusio regarding the issue of Mark Anthony Fernandez and according to her &#x27;yung tumingin sa kaniyang doktor, siya ay may comorbidities. At alam naman po nating nagkaroon ng depression si Mark, ibig sabihin niyan he&#x27;s qualified as the next priority after frontliners,&quot; Olivarez told ANC.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/10/03/16/mark-anthony-fernandez-arrested-for-illegal-drugs">Mark Anthony Fernandez arrested for illegal drugs</a></li></ul><p>(We talked to our city health officer and she said that the actor has comorbidities, according to his doctor. We all know that he went through depression, which means he&#x27;s qualified to be part of the priority groups.)</p><p>In a separate interview on ABS-CBN&#x27;s TeleRadyo, the local chief executive said Fernandez supposedly has depression and hypertension, which falls under the list of comorbidities. This, therefore, made him qualified to get the vaccine jab. </p><p>&quot;Alam naman po natin sa public knowledge, &#x27;yung depression ni Mark &#x27;di ba? Alam po natin all over. At mayroon pong hypertension &#x27;yung tao according sa ating medical team na nag-inoculate sa kanya,&quot; he explained.</p><p>(It is public knowledge that Mark has depression. It is known. He also has hypertension according to our medical team who administered the vaccine to him.) </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1646808" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;Alam naman natin na may nangyari sa insidente sa kanya sa Pampanga. Nagkaroon po siya ng depression. Depression po is a [comorbidity]. At sinabi ng ating medical team na mayroon siyang hypertension,&quot; he added, noting that he was not consulted on the matter. </p><p>(We all know what happened to him in Pampanga. He has depression, which is a comorbidity. Our medical team said he also has hypertension.) </p><p>He also emphasized that the people who showed up for the city&#x27;s vaccination rollout, especially if they were screened with comorbidities, were given COVID-19 vaccines after medical frontliners. </p><p>The vaccines must also be administered as soon as possible so they won&#x27;t go to waste, according to the mayor. </p><p>Under the priority list of the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) for vaccinations, &quot;[p]ersons with comorbidities&quot; are next in line after medical frontliners and senior citizens. </p><p>Government is not yet finished with the inoculation of some 1.7 million health care workers in the country.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/05/21/list-sub-groups-in-covid-19-vaccination-priority">LIST: Sub-groups in COVID-19 vaccination priority</a></li></ul><p>The actor&#x27;s vaccination came to public light amid uproar over the early COVID-19 inoculation of some politicians while vaccine supply remains limited in the country. </p><p>Olivarez, who also serves as head of the Metro Manila Council composed of the region&#x27;s city and town mayors, said they have begun inoculating senior citizens and residents with comorbidities since almost all of their frontliners have received their COVID-19 jabs. </p><p>&quot;Almost all of our 3,800 frontliners, medical, halos tapos na po kami, more than 92 to 95 percent na po ang aming na-inoculate na frontliner so sumusunod na po kami sa priority category, &#x27;yan po &#x27;yung senior citizens,&quot; he said, adding they were compliant with Department of Health (DOH) guidelines. </p><p>(We&#x27;re almost done in inoculating our frontliners so we did not violate the list. We&#x27;re just moving into the next category.)</p><p>Olivarez said they did not violate any government guidelines in inoculating the actor. </p><p>&quot;Mabilis &#x27;yung ating vaccination (the vaccination was fast)... We did not violate the guidelines of DOH,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Wala po kaming nilalabag, &#x27;yung ating mga vaccination team po sinunod nila ang procedure ng prioritization ng vaccine,&quot; he added in an interview on Teleradyo. </p><p>(We did not violate anything. Our vaccination team followed the procedure for the vaccine prioritization.) </p><p>According the mayor, depending on the supply to be allocated to them, they would finish inoculating around 70 percent of their residents in 2 and a half months.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1614159" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez claimed Wednesday that actor Mark Anthony Fernandez has "comorbidities" that made him eligible to be prioritized for a COVID-19 vaccine next to medical frontliners and senior citizens.</p>

Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez claimed Wednesday that actor Mark Anthony Fernandez has "comorbidities" that made him eligible to be prioritized for a COVID-19 vaccine next to medical frontliners and senior citizens.