Solon: Give private sector leeway on vaccine program

FOR faster vaccine rollout, the Deputy Speaker for Trade and Industry has asked the national government to reconsider the categorization in the priority group for the vaccine procured by the private sector.

Deputy Speaker for Trade and Industry and Valenzuela 1st District Rep. Weslie T. Gatchalian said the national government should give the private sector the leeway and flexibility to roll out their Covid-19 vaccination programs without classification of their employees.

“The private sector has gone over and beyond corporate social responsibility when they donated half of their vaccine procurement to the government. In return, the guidelines that the private sector must follow in the conduct of the vaccination program should be clear and allow them the leeway and flexibility to inoculate their employees after the priorities set by the law,” he said.

Gatchalian issued the call during the joint briefing on Republic Act 11525, or the Covid Vaccination Act of 2021, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) held by the House Committees on Trade and Industry and Health.

He reiterated that although the vaccines were procured by the private sector using their own funds with the facility of the government thru a tripartite agreement, this private sector initiative would “redound to the benefit of the DOH [Department of Health] as it would now be unburdened from the cost of having to vaccinate the thousands if not millions of private sector workers.”

The rollout, he stressed, should be given to all its employees, fairly and without distinction or classification.

“We laud and appreciate the private sector for the assurance that that their rollout will conform to and will be without prejudice to the guidelines set by the NTF [National Task Force against Covid-19] and the DOH,” he said.