The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said there should be stronger engagement and partnerships with establishments, agencies or organizations (EAOs) to facilitate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine deployment to the A4 priority group, which will cover frontline economic workers.
Karl Kendrick Chua, socioeconomic planning secretary, said during the job summit organized by the Task Group on Economic Recovery-National Employment Recovery Strategy on Labor Day there were two considerations on the prioritization of economic sectors under the A4 group.
First are sectors or groups that have high levels of interaction with or exposure to the public and cannot dutifully practice the minimum health standards, and second are sectors or groups that are needed to ensure security, consumer and worker safety, and those who work in priority government projects.
To facilitate the vaccine deployment to the A4 priority group, Chua cited four points.
First is the information dissemination on vaccines deployment activities, procedures, etc. in the local government units (LGUs).
Second, the NEDA chief said EAOs shall issue a certificate of A4 eligibility to their workers or personnel who belong to the A4 group, to ensure proper implementation and targeting.
Third, the EAOs are advised to adopt a schedule system for their workers, taking into consideration possible adverse reactions of vaccinees, which may result in workers taking time off from work, Chua said.
And finally, Chua said EAOs are encouraged to provide logistics support, including transport, to facilitate vaccination of their workers and coordinate with LGUs for the vaccination program.
NEDA has recommended the inclusion of about 12.8 million frontline workers in the A4 priority group.
The A4 sectors follow three other priority groups, which include frontline workers in the health sector, senior citizens and adults with comorbidities.
Chua identified 17 sub-sectors in the A4 priority group, and these include those in commuter transport; workers in public and private markets; workers in manufacturing for food, pharmaceutical and medical products; those in food retail including restaurants and delivery; frontline workers in financial services; frontline workers in hotel and accommodation; those in the religious sector; security personnel; and frontline workers in news media.
Part of the list are consumer-facing personnel of telecoms, cable and internet service providers, electricity distribution and water distribution facilities; frontline personnel of the education sector; overseas Filipino workers scheduled for deployment within two months; frontline government workers in other branches of government; frontline government workers engaged in transport, quarantine, safety and other COVID-19 protocols; frontline government workers in the collection of taxes or in data collection and price monitoring; diplomatic community and Department of Foreign Affairs personnel in consular operations; and Department of Public Works and Highways personnel in charge of monitoring government infrastructure projects. – Angela Celis
