OFWs now part of Covid-19 vaccination priority

MAYOR BENG Climaco has urged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to avail of the vaccination program of the government after the Department of Health (DOH) included them in the A1 category.

The DOH has prioritized those under the A1, A2 and A3 categories in the government mass vaccination program. A1 refers to workers in frontline services; A2 are the senior citizens and A3 are those with comorbidity or those with more than one disease or condition which is present in the same person at the same time.

Climaco said she was told by Dr. Manolo Alpichi, DOH Assistant Regional Director, to include the OFWs in the vaccination for A1 category. She said the DOH order is a welcome development for all OFWs in Zamboanga City. 

“This will give you 28 days or at least a month’s time to prepare your overseas contract and to help you in your livelihood for your families and the opportunity to grow professionally,” the mayor said. 

The DOH has pledged to send more Covid-19 vaccines, including Pfizer-BioNTech, to Zamboanga City. Climaco thanked President Rodrigo Duterte and DOH Secretary Francisco Duque and his Assistant Secretary, Romeo Ong for allocating additional Pfizer vaccines for Zamboanga City. 

The national government has sealed a deal recently with Pfizer and BioNTech for 40 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines which is expected to arrive by September. 

Many Filipinos prefer the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca over the Chinese Covid-19 vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm or the Russian Sputnik V, but health officials said the best vaccines are those immediately available. 

The DOH said all Covid-19 vaccines issued with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is safe and effective and urged the public to get inoculated and prevent the further spread of the deadly respiratory disease. 

It said before a vaccine can be issued with an EUA, it has to undergo rigorous evaluation processes involving the Department of Science and Technology, FDA, and various vaccine expert groups. The safety and efficacy of the vaccines are scrutinized based on latest available data and scientific evidence from global clinical trials. All vaccines available now in the country are safe, effective, and have been found to reduce risk of severe illness and prevent death after completing the required doses.

“As more vaccine supplies become readily available, I encourage everyone to take the earliest opportunity to get vaccinated. Covid-19 vaccines give additional protection against the virus to prevent hospitalization and death. We, at DOH, call on the public to choose to be vaccinated to protect yourselves and your loved ones, the soonest possible time,” Duque said.

“We have to be reminded that vaccine confidence should be built in the stringent processes that lead to the vaccine development, local authorization, and recommended use of these vaccines, and definitely not by the brand,” he added.

Climaco also agreed with Duque and said the local government’s Covid-19 vaccine information campaign continues in an effort to fight misinformation and at the same time promote awareness and public acceptance as more medicines arrive in an effort to achieve herd immunity in Zamboanga City.

She said the series of Covid-19 information sessions with different sectors and groups here are aimed at providing clear and accurate information about the virus and the goal of immunizing Zamboanguenos against Covid-19.  “Por favor, no crea todo lo que lee en las social media. Always check the information from official government sources. Las vacunas son seguras y salvan vidas,” the mayor said. 

The DOH in April also launched the #ChecktheFAQs campaign to emphasize the importance of accurate information in the fight against the virus and encourage the public to fact-check information that they come across. 

Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter pledged their support to the DOH initiative in line with their respective missions to help fight the pandemic and vaccine misinformation in social media.

“As Covid-19 vaccination becomes top priority across the globe, we must also race to fight disinformation and misinformation surrounding Covid-19 vaccines and the pandemic. Spreading the right information can save lives,” said DOH’s Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, Director of the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau and the Health Promotion Bureau. (Zamboanga Post)

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