Solon: Give private sector leeway to roll out vax program
A HOUSE leader on Thursday urged the national government to give the private sector the leeway and flexibility to roll out their coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccination programs without classification of their employees.
Deputy Speaker for Trade and Industry and Valenzuela City Rep. Wes Gatchalian
issued the call during the joint briefing on Republic Act (RA) No. 11525, or the COVID Vaccination Act of 2021, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations held by the House committees on trade and industry and on health upon the initiative of the Valenzuela lawmaker.
During the briefing, Gatchalian reiterated that although the vaccines were procured by the private sector using their own funds with the facility of the government thru a tripartite agreement, this private sector initiative would “redound to the benefit of the DoH (Department of Health) as it would now be unburdened from the cost of having to vaccinate the thousands if not millions of private sector workers.”
Gatchalian is pushing to recommend thru General Carlito, Galvez Jr., chief implementor of the COVID-19 National Task Force, to reconsider the categorization in the priority group for the vaccine procured by the private sector.
The roll-out, he stressed, should be given to all its employees, fairly and without distinction or classification.
“We laud and appreciate the private sector for the assurance that that their roll-out will conform to and will be without prejudice to the guidelines set by the NTF and the DoH,” he said.
“The vaccine roll-out, in accordance with the law and the IRR, should be a collaborative effort between the national government, the LGUs, and the private sector in order to expedite the inoculation of as many Filipinos as we can,” Gatchalian added. “This will not be difficult to achieve if the DoH and the NTF will provide clear guidelines to follow.
The lawmaker said that if the roll-out can be achieved with ease and the least number of requirements, the Philippines may be able to attain its target of achieving herd community. This, in turn, Gatchalian said would help save lives, afford relief to the health sector, and provide the confidence to open our businesses to revive the economy.
“I am certain that these private entities would want their employees to be inoculated at the soonest possible time. This would relieve the government of the additional burden of providing the vaccines to these sectors,” Gatchalian said.
“The private sector has gone over and beyond corporate social responsibility when they donated half of their vaccine procurement to the government. In return, the guidelines that the private sector must follow in the conduct of the vaccination program should be clear and allow them the leeway and flexibility to inoculate their employees after the priorities set by the law,” he concluded.
