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CSC: Policy for unvaccinated on-site gov’t employees to be issued ‘any time soon’


The Civil Service Commission (CSC) on Friday said it is currently working on the policy for unvaccinated government employees who will be reporting for on-site work, which is set to be released "any time soon."

At the Laging Handa briefing, CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada said it is already coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) regarding the "regular RT-PCR" testing for unvaccinated workers.

"May fina-finalize ngayon ang CSC na policy that will be dealing with the topic, we will be in touch with the DOH when they say 'regular RT-PCR,' ano ba talaga 'yung 'regular,' is it one week, is it two weeks?" Lizada said.

(The CSC is now finalizing a policy that will be dealing with the topic, we will be in touch with the DOH. When they say 'regular RT-PCR,' what do they exactly mean 'regular,' is it one week, is it two weeks?)

"The commission is into it. We have conducted several commission meetings about it together with our legal [team] and our policy office. Let's just wait, any time soon, the CSC will issue a policy about the topic," Lizada said in a mix of Filipino and English.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution 148-B requires employees who are tasked to report for work to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The provision states that: In areas where there are sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines as determined by the National Vaccines Operation Center (NVOC), all establishments and employers in the public and private sector shall require their eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

"Eligible employees who remain to be unvaccinated may not be terminated solely by reason thereof. However, they shall be required to undergo RT-PCR tests regularly at their own expense for purposes of on-site work. Provided that, antigen tests may be resorted to when RT-PCR capacity is insufficient or not immediately available," the resolution added.

In filing House Resolution 2373, the Makabayan bloc strongly urged President Rodrigo Duterte to repeal the said resolution requiring the mandatory vaccination for workers and instead prioritize the workers' health and well-being as economic frontliners amid the pandemic. — RSJ, GMA News

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