CEBU CITY — Ninety-nine percent of tourism workers in Cebu will be vaccinated before the month of October or the year ends.
For Secretary Carlito Galvez, the country’s vaccine czar, this target is not impossible to achieve after he announced on Friday that 50 percent of tourism workers in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu have already been vaccinated.
These vaccinated tourism workers are in hotels and resorts that were converted into isolation facilities.
“Cebu is considered as one of the country’s top tourist destinations because of its world-class marine attractions, historic sites and of course, mouthwatering cuisine. But when the pandemic struck, the nation’s tourism sector took a major hit,” said Galvez.
Galvez said that for the tourism industry to get back, it is important for the majority of the tourism workers to be vaccinated.
“We are therefore pleased to note that as of September 17, about 50 percent of the tourism workforce in Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue have been vaccinated,” said Galvez.
Galvez was in Cebu Friday to grace the ceremonial vaccination of 10 tourism workers, which will kick off the intensified inoculation of tourism workforce through the Project Balik Buhay (PBB), Hotel Resort & Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Health (DOH).
Aside from Galvez, also present in the activity were DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and Deputy Chief Implementer Secretary Vince Dizon.
The activity was held at Oakridge Business Park in Mandaue City.
Romulo-Puyat said 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be allocated weekly for the vaccination of tourism workers.
“Cebu is very important to us. That’s the only way we can restart tourism. All over Asia, ang nakabukas lang na tourist destination, ‘yong 90 percent or more vaccinated,” Romulo-Puyat said.