The Department of Health (DoH) assured the public Monday that the A(H1N1) vaccines donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) will never be used for politicking as supplies of the vaccine reached the regions over the weekend in time for the vaccination of some 400,000 health workers nationwide.

“It is impossible for them to use that for election purposes because we already identified where and to whom the vaccines will be given. These will be given directly to health workers at the Centers for Health Development (CHD) offices,” Director Eduardo Janairo of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (NCDPC) said in a phone interview.

But he said the DoH cannot stop candidates aspiring for political posts who might use the opportunity to pose for photographs during the vaccination schedules.

A(H1N1) is a new virus that has not circulated among humans before, according to the WHO.

Its symptoms are similar to seasonal influenza which include fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, runny nose and sometimes, vomiting and diarrhea, the WHO said.

It is transmitted through respiratory droplets expelled by an infected person through coughing or sneezing or when the sick person touches hands or surfaces.

Health workers are on top of the DoH’s list of recipients of the free A(H1N1) vaccines who were scheduled to be vaccinated beginning Monday along with DoH-National Capital Region (NCR) employees.