Sen. Cynthia Villar expressed optimism Saturday that the safety of millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid the global pandemic would be assured as more countries roll out their COVID-19 vaccination programs.
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“We welcome the New Year with hope as more countries, including our own, prepare their respective COVID-19 inoculation campaigns,” she said.
Villar commended Saudi Arabia for putting up more than 550 vaccination stations in Riyadh with more stations to be set up in all other areas. “According to Philippine Ambassador Adnan Alonto, the vaccination program against COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia will also cover all our OFWs at the expense of the Saudi government,” the senator said.
She urged OFWs in Saudi Arabia to register for the vaccine, which is being made available for free.
The Philippine ambassador received his first inoculation with the vaccine developed by Pfizer last Dec. 30 as he encouraged OFWs in Saudi Arabia to register on the prescribed government app (Sehhaty) to schedule their vaccination.
In Bahrain, the country’s health centers are giving the vaccines every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for free to its nationals and residents 18-years-old and above.
Bahraini King Hamad has been vaccinated against COVID-19 as his government launched the nationwide inoculation campaign. Bahrain is the second country after Britain to grant emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It has also approved Sinopharm’s vaccine last November.
The United Kingdom has ordered 100 million doses with 40 million to be rolled out by March next year.
The first Pfizer vaccine doses in Britain were delivered to care homes with “roving” health teams tasked to visit hundreds of additional care homes by New Year’s Eve.
The Oxford vaccine will be made available across the United Kingdom from Jan. 4 after British government approved the new vaccine last Dec. 30.
Villar said she would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to report on the progress of COVID-19 vaccination programs in countries with a high concentration of OFWs during the forthcoming Senate Committee of the Whole inquiry into the government’s own vaccination plans.
“As more countries roll out their respective anti-COVID19 inoculation campaigns, we will see the anxieties of our OFWs and their families ease because the health and safety of our workers will more or less be assured in the coming year,” Villar said.
The lady lawmaker noted that the Philippines should now look at how other countries have launched their vaccination drive.
“Let us gather reports from our embassies and start looking at best practices being done by other countries who are now actively setting up inoculation stations for their residents and foreign workers,’’ Villar said.
In her New Year’s message, Villar stressed the importance of national unity and hope in overcoming all challenges arising from the COVID19 pandemic. “Let our efforts to overcome the global pandemic unite us as we look forward to the arrival of vaccines for our people in the coming year,” the senator said.