Makati employees covered by free COVID-19 vaccination

MANILA, Philippines — Makati’s free COVID-19 vaccination program will include employees of all registered businesses in the city even if they are not Makati residents, Mayor Abby Binay announced over the weekend.

Binay said the city’s P1-billion funding for the purchase of the vaccines and additional doses from the national government would be enough to cover all Makati-based businesses.

“We are confident we will have enough vaccines to cover our essential workers who keep businesses running,” she said. “We will use the list of employees declared by the businesses in their permit applications as basis for the number of workers who will be vaccinated for free. This is our way of helping our economic frontliners.”

To qualify, companies must have a 2021 business permit and should be updated with their tax payments, including those paying in installments. Companies that have purchased vaccines for their employees will no longer be included in the program.

Binay said expanding the scope of the vaccination program to the business sector would help boost efforts to sustain the city’s economy through 100-percent COVID vaccination.

Makati has a population of over 500,000.

The mayor noted that during daytime, the city’s population balloons to nearly five million as non-residents troop to Makati companies and establishments daily.

Binay also allayed fears among residents and workers about the possible adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines.

She said the city government would shoulder the medical expenses and hospital bills of those who would experience any adverse effects linked to the vaccine.

“Anybody who will suffer adverse effects will receive free hospitalization. For non-residents, it will be covered by PhilHealth and the Malasakit financial assistance from the Department of Health. In Makati, our #ProudMakatizens will get free medical assistance through our Yellow Card program,” Binay said.

“Getting vaccinated is our best hope of fighting the coronavirus. It is a chance to regain mobility and jumpstart the economy. We do not have to live in fear of infecting our families each time we come home from work,” she added.

Binay presented Makati’s vaccination plan to the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic Team during a recent visit in Makati.

She said the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines would arrive this month and would be administered immediately to the city’s frontliners.

The rest of the vaccines and the city’s allocation from the national government will arrive by the third quarter of the year, according to Binay.

Besides logistics and manpower, the mayor underscored the need to build vaccination confidence and educate Makatizens why they should have themselves vaccinated against the disease.

“Makati is 100 percent ready. Our logistics, pre-vaccination and post-vaccination monitoring systems are in place. We are just waiting for the vaccines to arrive. The challenge for now is convincing people to get vaccinated. We have to improve our information dissemination drive and make people understand that the vaccines are safe,” Binay said.

The city government secured one million doses of vaccine from British drug manufacturer AstraZeneca on Jan. 10.