More workers in economically-active industries will be protected against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after the government's pandemic task force approved the request of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for additional vaccines for them.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III lauded this development, which he said, will help in speeding up the safe reopening of the economy and boost the protection of workers, particularly those in the manufacturing and construction industries.

With the approval, Bello said a total of 452,000 doses would be allocated for factory workers in CALABARZON, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas, and construction workers in the National Capital Region.

While the labor chief acknowledged the challenges in the supply of vaccines, he emphasized the need to allocate a portion of the supply for workers who are actively contributing to the economy.

According to Bello, the recent 11.8 percent growth in the country’s gross national product showed that it is necessary to inoculate the active members of the economy.

"We believe doing this would speed up economic recovery. This is particularly true to the manufacturing and construction sectors that contributed much to that growth," he explained.

Bello also thanked the National Task Force Against COVID-19, led by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez, for the "positive and immediate response" to the Department's urgent request.

The National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) Task Force and the Employers’Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) recently launched the "1 Million Jobs for 2021" project.

This aims to immediately source Filipino talents for deployment in economically active industries, under a policy environment that would help create jobs all over the country.

Bello said part of DOLE’s commitment to the project is to facilitate the vaccination of workers in their respective local government units.