MANILA, Philippines — Farmers should be among those on the priority list for vaccination against COVID-19 for they are “essential workers” who helped the country survive amid the pandemic.
Magsasaka party-list Rep. Argel Cabatbat on Tuesday said farmers should be treated akin to the medical sector and our uniformed personnel as they are front liners in the fields and markets.
“All throughout the pandemic, the agricultural sector has fought tooth and nail to help our nation survive. Their dedication, despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them – in government funding and assistance, legislation, and competition – gives them the right to be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine,” he said in a statement.
Cabatbat noted that the farming sector remains to be one of the poorest groups of Filipinos, adding that a “threat to their health is a threat to their livelihoods, and by extension, their family’s and Philippines’ future.”
The government should be committed to protecting farmers since the nation’s health depends on food security, he added.
“I appeal to our national government and relevant authorities to include our farmers in the priority list, for in doing so we send the message that we see them with value, we recognize their importance to the nation, and we will return with gratitude their service to the nation,” he further said.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said the government aims to inoculate 50 million to 70 million Filipinos using the 148 million doses of vaccines it expects to obtain from seven pharmaceutical companies.
Front-line health workers, soldiers, and policemen, and essential workers would be given priority in the vaccinations, but all Filipinos would have access to vaccines “without exception.”
The initial rollout of vaccines and clinical trials of vaccines from the COVAX program of the World Health Organization (WHO) are expected in February, he added.
READ: Senators question vaccine ‘monopoly’: ‘Do you want to play God?‘