More than 400,000 workers from the construction and manufacturing industries will be inoculated starting Wednesday, Sept. 8, during the launching of the Department of Labor and Employment's (DOLE) special vaccination program in Manila.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the move is part of DOLE’s efforts to boost the country’s employment recovery under the “Reform, Rebound, Recover: One Million Jobs for 2021” project.
Bello said the One Million Jobs for 2021 project, which is a partnership between the government and the private sector, aims to provide vaccines to workers of sectors considered as the country's main economic contributors amid the pandemic.
The National Task Force Against COVID-19 earlier approved DOLE's request for the allocation of vaccines for 452,000 workers in industries identified as critically important for the economy.
DOLE made the request to uphold the government's commitment to its private sector partners in the project.
In the manifesto signed by DOLE and key National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) Task Force member agencies along with leading business groups led by the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), the business organizations committed to the creation of one million jobs for 2021.
"That's their show of support for the Task Force’s efforts to address employment issues caused by the pandemic. In return, the government through DOLE pledged it will source vaccines for qualified workers before they're onboarded for work," Bello said.
"As envisioned by the NERS Task Force, we are witnessing the whole of society come together for the recovery of jobs and the revival of the labor market," he added.
Meanwhile, the labor chief lauded the government's industry partners for carrying out their commitment to engage workers in need of employment during the pandemic.
"As long as we persevere in our pursuit of safe and unabating recovery, our economy shall surely spring back and our workforce flourish," Bello said.