Senate President Vicente Sotto III clarified on Saturday, March 27, that senators are seeking vaccine allocation for the chamber's employees, and not themselves.
Asked during the government's Laging Handa briefing, Sotto maintained that they would follow the government's protocols and prioriity list should the Senate's request for 5,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines be granted.
"Sasabihin ng iba, 'Bakit 'yong Senado ang nauuna?' Hindi po kami, 'yong mga empleyado namin. Sapagkat yong mga empleyado po namin, kung tutuusin, ay nandoon sa tinatawag na 'frontline personnel in essential services' (People will say, 'Why is the Senate getting ahead in the line?' It's not for us, but for our employees. Because our employees, if you think of it, fall under those 'frontline personnel in essential services)," he said.
"Wala pong budget ang gobyerno, ay at hindi po magkakaroon ng budget kung hindi papasa sa Senado. At wala po kaming magagawang trabaho, kaming 24, kung wala hong mga empleyado at 'yong iba't ibang departamento ng Senado ay makakapasok (The government has no budget, and there will be no national budget if the Senate will not pass it. We cannot do anything, the 24 members of the Senate, if there are no employees and staff of the various departments cannot go to work)," he explained.
Frontline personnel in essential sectors are fourth in the government's prioritization after health workers, senior citizens and persons with co-morbidities. They include uniformed personnel and others identified by the government as essential, as well as local chief executives who have recently been moved up in the priority list.
They will receive the vaccines before indigent population, teachers and social workers, other government workers and other essential workers.
Last Wednesday, March 24, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri bared that he has been in talks with Malacañang and officials involved in the inoculation program to secure vaccines for 2,500 employees of the Upper Chamber.
Zubiri particularly said they are asking for Russia's Sputnik V vaccines, which the government plans to procure by next month.
Sotto also said that as Sen. Panfilo Lacson proposed, they can also get vaccine allotment from China's Sinopharm, which has already applied for an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"Hindi naman naming sinasabing priority na sila agad, syempre 'yong frontline health workers muna ng Senado...At saka hindi naman 'yon ika nga, bukas na bukas din, pinaplano pa lang (We are not saying that Senate employees should be prioritized, and of course frontline health workers of the Senate would be vaccinated first. Anyway, the vaccine allocaton will not arrive right away as we are still planning it)," he maintained.
Before adjourning for a two-month congressional break, the Senate was placed on lockdown due to the rising cases of COVID-19 infections among its employees.