WITH the arrival of the Lambda variant in the country and while the Delta variant accounts for the recent spike of infections, the Filipino workers are demanding the Duterte government to speed up the vaccination roll-out to workers and the poor.

Gilbert Escuate, President of the Alliance of Nationalist Genuine and Labor Organization-Kilusang Mayo Uno, pointed out that with the rising cases, the best protection that the people can have is to get access to vaccines.

“The hospitals with a critical level of occupancy are rising, and we don’t want to see workers and their families left with no choice but to stay at their homes while infected unable to find a vacancy at a proper facility. To speed up the (vaccination) drive, the government budget should be released to conduct vaccination in more worksites and poor communities. The national government should implement free vaccination in worksites and poor communities to help prevent the large gathering of people in existing vaccination sites,” he said

Escuate said ANGLO is specifically demanding A-B-K during the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). A-B-K refers to Ayuda, Bakuna, and Karapatan (financial support, vaccines, and respect for rights).

“The government must prioritize small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who do not have the resources like the multinational corporations.

The SMEs are severely affected by the ECQ and the pandemic in general. Many workers in SMEs are facing wage reduction due to job rotation schemes. They are also facing floating status and retrenchment. If the government gives priority to workers and SMEs, they could help deliver essential goods and services needed during ECQ. Vaccination should also be conducted in export-processing zones and industrial hubs. The large concentration of workers located in these worksites make them superspreaders,” he said.

The Lambda variant has become the dominant variant in some South American countries, while the Delta variant is predominant in the US and many countries in Asia and Europe. The former is considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the most transmissible variant.

The labor leader also disclosed that they received reports from workers revealing that their companies have already had vaccination drives, but they are forced to reschedule them because the supply of vaccines has not arrived.

“The problem is supply, and that is the national government’s responsibility. The Duterte government and its agencies are not showing the resolve to mobilize its resources as shown by the recent expose of the Commission on Audit,” he said.

“This is the second year of the pandemic and people are already desperate for help. The extreme callousness of the government in the face of so much suffering is contemptible. We know there are government funds, but these are not being utilized to alleviate this suffering and to help Filipinos survive this mess of a health crisis exacerbated by government inefficiency and corruption,” he said. “All this comprise a massive series of violations against the rights of Filipinos,” he added.

According to the latest reports from the COA, the DOH had ₱24.6 billion in unobligated allotments last year.

Escuate said this could have been utilized to purchase 6.5 million COVID-19 tests at ₱3,800 per test kit. This is equivalent to 57,810 tests a day for four months. This would have gone a long way to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 because many people would have been tested and those found positive isolated .

The ANGLO head also said that the government should give its full support to LGUs as they implement their respective vaccination drives and ensure that there are sufficient supplies of the vaccine for all.

“Workers are already extremely apprehensive for their health and safety, but they also have to contend with the fear of being laid off if they do not get vaccinated. Many workers are desperate to get vaccinated for this reason. Government should ensure that there are enough vaccines for workers, especially those who report for work every day despite the lockdown,” he said.