The Philippines’ Labor Day celebration should be symbolically marked by a massive coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination drive for the country’s workers.

Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor and Employment, said the government’s plan to vaccinate a select group of workers on May 1 must not only be symbolic but also one that should be sustained.

“I hope that’s it’s not a one-day show, but the start of a regular program to vaccinate workers. We owe it to our economic frontliners to conduct vaccinations daily and not just on Labor Day,” VIllanueva said in a statement.

Villanueva also reiterated his call for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to map out essential workers under the A4 classification to sustain the vaccination drive of economic frontliners beyond Labor Day.

The senator said the government should be ready with its registry of persons under the A4 classification in the national vaccination priority list so the inoculation of essential workers can proceed without a hitch.

The list should go beyond workers in the formal sector and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and include workers in the informal sector, Villanueva said.

“There should be a way in which informal sector workers can be identified: a user-friendly app where they can register,” he said.

The lawmaker also said government agencies that keep a directory, like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), should be asked to share their database.

“For example, we can include market vendors, jeepney drivers, food truck workers, because these are essential workers who are self-employed and are not part of the directory of workers by a certain company,” he pointed out.

And in order to persuade more workers to get vaccinated, the lawmaker suggested that government officials hold the “Labor Day” vaccination program in a factory.

“I understand the persuasion value of holding this kind of activity at a time of vaccine shortage and hesitancy,” he said.

“But to better drive home the message, let us do it on the factory floor, and not some remote stage. This is to show workers that they are included in the government’s vaccination program,” the lawmaker stressed.