A total of 14,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines will be allocated to the 7,000 tourism industry workers in Davao who will initially get the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) jab, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced Tuesday, June 29.

This, as DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat lauded tourism stakeholders in Davao City for spearheading an "innovative" vaccination program for travel and hospitality employees, including those in the A4 priority group.

The inoculation program, dubbed "Bakuna by the Sea," will be held at the seaside tropical garden of the Waterfront Insular Hotel Pavilion from June 30 to July 2.

"I would like to congratulate the DATA (Davao Tourism Association) for working with the City government of Davao to start inoculating our tourism workers," Puyat said in a video message.

"The recent designation of the NCR (National Capital Region)-plus area as a low-risk area is a welcome sign that the national vaccination program is working, and we hope to see this replicated in Davao as soon as possible," she added.

The tourism chief is optimistic that this unique vaccination program would further spur the recovery of local tourism—an industry that suffered the brunt of the pandemic.

Data from the Davao local government unit (LGU) showed that around 6,000 tourism workers in the city have already pre-registered for the event.

Puyat also thanked Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio for including tourism industry workers on the city's vaccination priority list. She also thanked the private sector for their contribution in organizing the vaccination program.

"This special vaccination program for tourism workers should be replicated across the country. I hope that other LGUs in the country will follow suit so we can bring back the thousands of tourism jobs that were lost amid the pandemic," Puyat said.

According to the DOT, some 7,015 tourism workers from seven regions in the country have already been inoculated against the COVID-19 as of June 24.

The department has been pushing for the vaccination of workers in the tourism sector to ensure the health and safety of travelers and the host community amid the effort to gradually resume tourism activities at various destinations in the Philippines.

"As tourism workers who have to interact with so many different people face to face, your health and safety are important. This is a pivotal step in the road to recovery as we need to do it together," Puyat explained.

Last week, the Bohol local government began inoculating their tourism workers following the arrival of 10,000 doses of Russian vaccine brand Gamaleya Sputnik V in the province. Initiated by the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 through the DOT, the program seeks to vaccinate 5,000 tourism workers on the island.