70% of Cebu’s hotel, restaurant workers want to be vaccinated

AROUND 70 percent of Cebu’s hospitality industry employees expressed their willingness to be vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019, an official of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) said.

Alfred Reyes, HRRAC president, said the figure is a positive development.

“Vaccination is the first step if we want the industry to recover. This is one of the most important steps to attract international tourist markets again,” he said.

Reyes said there are more than 10,000 tourism workers in Cebu.

HRRAC also registered member hotels to the Project Balik Buhay (PBB).

“HRRAC is very thankful to the PBB and the members who registered. If we really want the industry to start bouncing back, once the majority of our members are vaccinated, we will be a priority of our neighboring countries like Korea, Japan, our markets,” he said.

The tourism industry has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which created a domino effect in other industries.

Isolation and quarantine hotels have already vaccinated their employees since they belong to A1, he said.

The PBB Vaccination Initiative rollout started on Friday, April 16, 2021, with the vaccination of A1, A2 and A3 Priority Groups (healthcare workers, senior citizens and adults with comorbidities) coming from the first batch of Company Applications and Employee Master lists duly approved by the Department of Health 7 and the respective local government units.

The first rollout was held at PBB-identified hospital centers namely Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital for Cebu City and Chong Hua Hospital-Mandaue for Mandaue City. In Lapu-Lapu City, the vaccination will take place at the ARC Hospital on Monday, April 19.

Registration for company applications is ongoing until April 30, Reyes said.