The implementation of the government’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Program should include a portion of the labor force who help sustain the economy, aside from those providing essential frontline services, according to Senator Joel Villanueva.
In a resolution, Villanueva sought the Senate to look into the details of the government’s vaccination plan particularly “the readiness of the National Government in rolling out the effective, equitable, affordable, and timely COVID-19 vaccination of 100% of the Filipino population, especially to members of the labor force”.
“Maliban po sa ating mga frontline service personnel tulad ng mga healthcare workers, pulis, at militar, nais makita ng ating mga manggagawa, lalo na po ang mga minimum wage earners, kung paano sila mabibigyan ng access sa bakuna,” the veteran legislator said.
“Balot po sa takot at pangamba ang ating mga manggagawa, na sinasalamin ng huling labor force survey, at ang malinaw na plano ang pagpapatupad ng vaccination program sa mga manggagawa ay susi sa pagbabalik ng kumpyansa ng ating mga manggagawa, at maging ang mga mamumuhunan,” the seasoned lawmaker added.
“Many of our minimum wage earners face a high degree of risk in terms of their workplaces such as factories and construction sites, and live in highly dense areas with their families. They also rely on public transportation to get to their workplace and homes, so if they get sick, they are likely to spread the disease in their communities. This clearly illustrates the need for our policymakers to factor in not only science, but also the day-to-day realities faced by our people in their decision-making process,” explained the chair of the Senate labor committee.
“Consider including other frontline service workers such as those in the logistics sector, public transportation, and other subsectors in the services industry who keep the economy running.”
The senator suggested to National Task Force Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. to consider including other frontline services workers such as those in the logistics sector, public transportation, and other subsectors in the services industry who keep the economy running.
He said the vaccination program should also include those categorized as high-risk spreaders who contribute to the economy such as workers in food distribution and retail networks including public markets and restaurants, private security workers, and construction workers.
Villanueva filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 598 recently seeking to direct the labor committee to hold an inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program, specifically to assess how workers would be covered given the public pronouncements of the country’s vaccine czar that the planned inoculation intends to cover 70% of the population in the next three to five years.
“According to the government planned inoculation, the first priority in the vaccination would be the frontline health workers which account for 1.6% of the population or 1.76 million Filipinos, 2nd priority are indigent senior citizens (3.78 million or 3.5% of the population), 3rd priority is the remaining senior citizens (5.67 million or 5.3% of the population), 4th priority is the remaining indigent population (12.9 million or 12% of the population), and 5th priority are the uniformed personnel (525,523 or .5% of the population),” the resolution read.
“About 53% of the country’s 39.8 million employed workers are wage and salary workers in the private sector.”
About 53% of the country’s 39.8 million employed workers as of October 2020, Labor Force Survey are wage and salary workers in the private sector, according to the lawmaker, citing the latest data of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
He added that “considering that vaccine safety and effectiveness can be affected by changes in storage temperature, the government’s logistics capacity and strategy should also be scrutinized.”