House bill penalizing vaccine line-jumpers filed

FILE – Health workers and frontliners receive their 2nd dose of the Sinovac vaccine against COVID-19 held at Marikina Elementary School covered court, Marikina City on Tuesday, May 4, 2021. Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines – In the wake of reports of line-jumping and fake appointments, a lawmaker wants to criminalize vaccine queue-jumping with a 60-day jail term and fines of up to P 500,000 for violators of COVID-19’s vaccine priority framework.

The House Bill 9189 or COVID-19 Vaccine Queue-Jumping Ban Act will penalize anyone who disobeys the priority population groups for inoculation.

Paranaque City 2nd District’s Rep. Joy Myra Tambunting cited past cases of vaccine line jumping, including public officials who got their shots when they weren’t yet high on the priority list.

“It is essential that the country strictly adheres to the COVID-19 vaccine line to ensure that medical frontliners and the most vulnerable are inoculated first,” she said in the bill’s explanatory note.

HB 9189 was filed last April and was referred to the House justice committee when plenary sessions resumed this week.

As early as December 2020, there were reports of alleged “VIP” vaccination even before the inoculation began.

By the time the vaccination began in March, reports of some personalities getting jabs ahead of other healthcare workers also marred the rollout.

The government is presently vaccinating the top three priority populations against COVID-19: healthcare workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.

The available vaccine brands have also grown to four options: Sinovac Biotech’s Coronavac, AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V, and Pfizer BioNTech.

Earlier this week, Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon claimed that some persons are using “fake notification messages for vaccine appointment” to get jabs even if they did not sign up for it.

“Pinoy style. Got it from first-hand sources, an ongoing racket in vaccination sites in at least two cities: people use fake notification messages for vaccine appointment to bypass the online registration or appointment system and get into the vaccine sites to get their jabs,” he said on Twitter.

Tambunting’s measure stressed that the list of priority population groups under the COVID-19 vaccine framework should be strictly followed.

“Queue-jumping, as well as misrepresentation as to eligibility into a priority group, shall be prohibited,” the bill said.

Recipients from the quick substitution list will only be tapped for vaccination if the initial list of identified recipients for the day is exhausted. The QSL recipients should belong to the same priority group as the initial recipients.

The vaccination of eligible recipients from the next priority group shall be the last resort to prevent vaccine surplus and spoilage.

A person who will disregard the COVID-19 vaccine priority population groups and jump the line will face imprisonment ranging from 15 days to 60 days, and a fine ranging from P 100,000 to P 500,000.

“If the offender is a public official and the offender has taken advantage of his public position, the maximum penalty shall be provided,” the bill said.

If the offender is a corporation, association, partnership, or other juridical person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the president, directors, managers, managing partners, etc who participated in committing the offense, or knowingly permitted or failed to prevent it.