True 'Bayanihan': Private firms provide vaccines for El Nido tourism workers, dependents
The Department of Tourism (DOT) praised on Tuesday, Aug. 17, its partners in the private sector for their initiative to provide tourism workers in El Nido, Palawan and their dependents their first dose of vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the DOT, around 500 tourism frontliners and 100 of their dependents received their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccines from private firms AirSwift, AC Health, Ayala Hotels and Resorts, Healthway, Qualimed, Ten Knots, and Zuellig Pharma on Monday, Aug. 16.
"The DOT commends these companies for keeping the Bayanihan spirit alive amid difficult times through their initiative, giving a much-needed boost to the DOT's vaccination drive for tourism workers in Palawan," the department said in a statement.
This latest program of the DOT brings the total number of inoculated tourism workers in El Nido to 1,761, or over 25 percent of the 7,000 target beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, some 15,000 Moderna and 10,000 Sinovac vaccines have also arrived on the tourist island of Palawan. These will be allocated for tourism workers in Coron, El Nido, and Puerto Princesa City.
The agency thanked National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Deputy Chief Implementer Secretary Vince Dizon, the National Vaccination Operations Center (NCOV), and the Department of Health (DOH) for the arrival of the additional doses.
"The DOT believes that the convergent efforts of the government and private sectors to inoculate tourism workers and their dependents in destinations like El Nido is key to the continued safe reboot of the tourism industry," it added.
DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat has been pushing workers in the local tourism sector to get their COVID jabs as part of efforts to restore the public's confidence to travel and help in the industry's recovery amid the pandemic.
Puyat said the local tourism industry is currently gaining momentum toward recovery as the department strengthens its cooperation with its public and private partners to bring more vaccines to the country's key tourism destinations.