Employees, who will receive jabs during the three-day nationwide vaccination drive, should not be marked absent by their employer. This was announced by Malacañang said Wednesday, Nov. 24 as President Duterte officially declared Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 as the "Bayanihan, Bakunahan National COVID-19 Vaccination Days."
"Employees and workers of the government and the private sector, who will be vaccinated during the aforesaid period, shall not be considered absent from their work, provided that they present proof of vaccination to their respective employers, subject to rules that may be issued by the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) and the Civil Service Commission)," the President stated in the proclamation.
While in earlier pronouncement, acting Presidential Spokesman Karlo Nograles said that the government will declare Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 as special working days, it was not specified in the executive order.
November 30 or Bonifacio Day, on the other hand, is already a regular holiday.
Although it was not stated in the order that the two dates are special working days, the purpose of declaring such was retained. Employees will still be excused from work if they will receive vaccination during the national drive.
The simultaneous nationwide vaccination drive will be headed by the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.
All other government agencies are also encouraged to actively participate and provide necessary support to the lead agencies.
Local government units (LGUs) are ordered to mobilize all resources, stakeholders, health human resource, and constituents within their areas during the three-day national activity.
The President also called on all healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, and medical technologists to "extend their full support and cooperation in providing COVID-19 vaccination during the three-day campaign."
The national vaccination drive aims to help achieve the goal to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the country's population, including individuals aged 12 to 17, considering that "53 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have yet to be administered."
As of Nov. 18, a total of 73,917,573 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with more than 32 million Filipinos having been fully vaccinated.