Flexibility sought for private sector vaccine plan

MANILA, Philippines — ­-Following the need of the country for more vaccines and a faster implementation of the vaccination program, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion presented the private sector vaccine plan during the joint meeting of the House of Representatives’ committee on trade and industry and committee on health last Wednesday.

Concepcion said he would, aside from presenting recommendations and plans, also ask the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) to allow the private sector some flexibility.

“We want to appeal to DOH (Department of Health) and NITAG to give the private sector the flexibility because if you look at the industries who purchased the vaccines, there are so many industries who have different positions… We should just allow them to inoculate all those in that list of A4,” he stressed.

Other representatives highlighted during the meeting the need for loosening the restrictions for the subcategories of the A4 priority list and the need to be proactive on whom to vaccinate when the bulk of vaccine supply comes.

The A4 group includes transportation workers, market vendors, religious leaders and overseas Filipino workers. It is the fourth in the government’s vaccination priority and comes after health workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities.

“I agree with the sentiments of the private sector to give them that sense of flexibility, that there is no need for a subcategory in A4. As I have experienced in my district in Quezon City, convincing those in the priority list (to get vaccinated) can really cause delays,” Rep. Angelina Tan said partly in Filipino.

Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian said many private companies want their employees inoculated at the soonest.

“This would relieve the government of the additional burden of providing the vaccines to these sectors... 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,” Gatchalian stressed.

Secretary Carlito Galvez seconded the proposals as he assured the public that more vaccines are coming to the country.

“As a general rule, there will be a simultaneous rolling out in June considering that we will already cover five categories of the priority categories of A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5,” Galvez, the designated vaccine czar, said.

Rep. John Reynald Tiangco showed his appreciation for the efforts of the private sector, saying that they “have always been a partner of the government and the Filipino people” since the  COVID-19 pandemic began last year.

“You’ve always been a partner of the government and the Filipino people not only in the vaccines, but also in the efforts to provide help and financial assistance to our fellowmen,” Tiangco said.

Concepcion thanked Congress for considering the recommendations and plan of the private sector.

“Now, what we have to do is bring back the confidence of the people on all of these vaccines coming in. If our people refuse to take these vaccines, all of these efforts become useless. The private sector, the LGUs and the national government will do everything together with great speed. Through this, there is a great chance that by the end of the year, we will be able to vaccinate a great number of our population – but we still have to do a lot of convincing to attain greater acceptance,” Concepcion said.

“I believe that there is great hope and I believe that the 4th quarter can be the start of something bright. Access to the vaccines is one great thing, but building confidence and proper execution is the next thing we have to work on. This is our working framework right now, it is through providing access to vaccines, building confidence and executing fast that we can win this war against COVID-19,” he added.