Villanueva: Vaccinate essential workers before vaccines expire

Senator Joel Villanueva is urging the national government to start vaccinating essential workers before the COVID-19 vaccines expire and end up being thrown away.

He reiterated his call to administer the vaccines to other frontline workers as well because they, too, deserve to be vaccinated.

“Vaccination should be time-on-target because vaccines have expiry dates," Villanueva, who chairs the Senate labor committee, said in a statement.

“Instead of throwing away, use it now."

Villanueva said that while frontline health workers should always be prioritized, other workers who provide essential services and expose themselves to risks of COVID-19 infections should also be given priority.

He added that after the health workers, other essential workers should be the next in line “in case there is inventory in danger of being spoiled.”

“A good operation is one which has a contingency. Even in airplanes, there is a wait list isn’t it?” he said.

Villanueva also stressed the need to prioritize public transportation drivers and workers who deliver essential goods in the COVID-19 vaccination.

“They meet and exceed the definition of essential workers who, by the nature of their work, are exposed to risk. They are in close contact with hundreds of passengers and customers a day,” he said.

“If there’s no transportation, who would bring our nurses to the hospital, or cashier to the grocery, or the pharmacist to drug stores? Who will deliver food or groceries if there are no riders?” he added.

According to the government's vaccination roadmap, health workers and frontliners from select government offices will be the first to receive the vaccine, followed by indigent senior citizens, other senior citizens, and other indigents.

The Philippines began its COVID-19 vaccination program on March 1 after the arrival of 600,000 doses of donated Sinovac vaccines, which was immediately followed by 487,000 doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca.

On March 7, another batch of 38,400 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the country.

The remaining donated 400,000 doses of vaccine from Sinovac were also delivered to the Philippines last Wednesday.

Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is aiming to reach its target of 50 to 70 million vaccinations before the end of the year to achieve herd immunity and give Filipinos a "better Christmas." —LBG, GMA News