All overseas Filipino workers should be included in the first priority group for COVID-19 vaccination regardless of deployment status, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday as the government further expands its inoculation program.
Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III said he requested COVID-19 vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr. to remove any condition for the inclusion of OFWs in the first priority group for vaccination known as A1.
"Kung maari basta OFW ka sana, A1 ka na para sa ganoon mabakunahan ka na and anytime you will be asked to deployed [you can go]," Bello said in a Palace briefing.
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Bello cited the uncertainty of deployment schedules of OFWs particularly seafarers for the proposal.
The labor chief's plea came days after the inter-agency task force on pandemic response reclassified outbound OFWs to the A1 vaccine priority group composed of health workers, provided that they are set to leave for abroad in four months,
"I am asking Sec. Galvez na kung maari yung colatilla na within 4 months eh alisin na dahil iba ang proseso sa deployment," Bello said.
Initially, the first priority for COVID-19 vaccination was only health workers.
But as vaccination expands, local government units have been told to keep in their priority lists health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities for COVID-19 vaccination with "special lanes."
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