Villanueva welcomes vaccination roll out for economic frontliners in June
Senator Joel Villanueva thanked the government for heeding his call to expand the A4 vaccination priority list to include economic frontliners, who are set to be vaccinated in June.
In a statement, Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee, said the workers in the A4 priority list, where economic frontliners will be lumped together with essential workers, could continue on with their jobs while mitigating the risk of contracting severe or critical symptoms of COVID-19 once they get vaccinated.
“Araw-araw pong nakikipagsapalaran ang ating mga manggagawa, tulad ng economic frontliners at essential workers, upang ipagpatuloy ang kanilang mga trabaho. Ngayong mababakunahan na po sila, mababawasan po ang kanilang alinlangan sa pagpasok sa trabaho dahil may kaukulan na silang proteksyon laban sa COVID-19,” Villanueva said.
“Sa mga kamay ng ating manggagawa nakasalalay ang muling pagbangon ng ating bayan. Salamat po sa ating IATF, lalo na po kay Secretary Vince Dizon, na ating nakaagapay sa pagsulong ng pagbabakuna sa mga essential workers at economic frontliners, including workers in the formal and informal sectors,” he continued.
“Araw-araw pong nakikipagsapalaran ang ating mga manggagawa, tulad ng economic frontliners at essential workers, upang ipagpatuloy ang kanilang mga trabaho. Ngayong mababakunahan na po sila, mababawasan po ang kanilang alinlangan sa pagpasok sa trabaho dahil may kaukulan na silang proteksyon laban sa COVID-19."
Villanueva issued the statement after Dizon announced during the inauguration of the Joni Villanueva Memorial Hospital in Bocaue on Thursday afternoon that the vaccination of workers would start in June.
Dizon credited Villanueva for relentlessly advocating for the vaccination of essential workers, such as security guards, market vendors, delivery riders, public utility drivers, supermarket staff, sanitation workers, and media workers, among others.
In January, Villanueva campaigned for the inclusion of essential workers at the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing into the COVID-19 vaccination program of the country. The testing czar, a resource person at the committee hearing, confirmed the IATF’s commitment to include essential workers in the vaccination priority list.
The lawmaker pointed out that the only way to boost the confidence of workers to go to their jobs daily was through vaccination.
Citing government data, Villanueva said the unemployment rate last year reached double digits—10.3 percent or about 4.5 million workers.