Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III got his dose of the AztraZeneca vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ilagan City, Isabela on Saturday May 15.
The vaccination was administered by personnel from Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC), according to the DOLE Regional Office 2.
As a senior citizen, Bello belongs to the priority group as listed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) under the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) prioritization framework and criteria.
After getting inoculated, Bello encouraged others in the priority groups to take the vaccine to minimize social and economic disruptions caused by the pandemic.
“I encourage my fellow workers and other priority groups to take the vaccine. Let's take advantage of this free vaccination program of the government so we can finally move past this pandemic that we are in," Bello said.
The Labor secretary has tested negative for the disease after the agency's main office was locked down on March 17 when three DOLE employees were found infected with the virus.