Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar has welcomed the inclusion of media workers as among the essential workers eligible for priority vaccination.
Andanar recognized that media workers continue to play a crucial role in delivering news and information during the pandemic.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has amended the list of A4 priority group for vaccination, and included frontline workers in private and government news media. The list also included overseas Filipino workers, vendors, transport workers, and frontline government personnel.
"The media should truly be included in the A4 priority group, along with other individuals who play a significant part in our seamless and uninterrupted societal activities. We have seen firsthand the importance of their work in delivering news and information to every household, especially when the pandemic started to unfold and interrupted traditional work arrangements,” Andanar said in a statement Friday, April 16.
Andanar recognized that frontline media workers are among the essential personnel working “tirelessly” and risking lives to perform their duties.
"Their indispensable and invaluable contributions have provided us with important and life-saving information on all matters relative to the contagion and the responses of the Duterte administration,” he added.
All frontline media workers are "integral to the success” of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Andanar.
“Their inclusion as a priority in the ongoing vaccination program are among the reflections of the Duterte administration’s commitment to upholding and protecting the rights and welfare of media workers, especially during this pandemic as they are exposed to health risks and hazards as they carry out their work for the benefit of the public,” he said.