Gov’t asked: Include retail workers on vaccine priority list

Local retailers are asking the government to include around 6 million workers in the industry among the priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination, stressing that a vaccinated workforce will help bring back consumer confidence in the economy.

The Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) made the request in a letter to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary body overseeing the government’s coronavirus response.

Support to industry

It requested inoculation for front-line workers in the industry, including those who work in supermarkets and shopping malls.

Addressed to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the letter was dated Feb. 4 but was sent to the task force only on Feb. 8. It was signed by PRA president Rosemarie B. Ong and group chair Paul Santos, with a copy sent to Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.

“As the association that represents the retail industry, we hope that this request [will] be granted not only to protect retail front-liners, but also to gain back consumer confidence, and further maintain business operations and keep and give more jobs to retail front-liners,” the group said.

Pointing out that the Philippines is a “consumption-driven economy,” the group said “it is imperative that we support the retail industry to help the [economy] bounce back.”

The economy shrank 9.5 percent in 2020, its worst performance in decades, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The survival of our businesses—and the future of retailers in the country—is at stake. Please help us retailers survive so we may continue to prosper with the nation after all these challenges,” the PRA said.

The association has more than 400 member companies across the distribution chain, including the giant SM group.

Its request came as the government was preparing to launch its COVID-19 vaccination program, with the delivery of the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines from the global procurement pool COVAX expected to arrive on Feb. 15.

Priority groups

The first shots will be given to hospital staff in Metro Manila, elderly people, and police and military personnel.

The government conducted a dry run for the delivery of 117,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday, with emphasis on speed of transport because the drug is highly perishable. The vaccine requires storage in minus 70 degrees to minus 80 degrees Celsius.

Duque and the chief of the government’s vaccine procurement program, Carlito Galvez Jr., expressed satisfaction with the results of the dry run but said certain areas required improvement.

Expanded training

On Wednesday, Ariel Valencia, Department of Health (DOH) director for Metro Manila, said those areas included handling of the vaccines.

To achieve precision, special training would be given to cold chain managers, supply officers, and pharmacists, Valencia said.

“Temperature loggers” would accompany the vaccines during transport to ensure maintenance of the required temperature during transport, he said.

Valencia said the DOH might conduct another dry run to take into account other possibilities, such as heat and congestion on the road.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gave assurance that the delivery of the vaccines would be secured by the Philippine National Police.

“Those vaccines are like gold, especially now that we have insufficient supply. That’s why we have tasked the PNP to be prepared for any incident,” Interior Undersecretary for Peace and Order Bernardo Florece Jr. said on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, spokesperson for the PNP, said local police units and the Highway Patrol Group would handle security for the delivery of the vaccines.

Pfizer, AstraZeneca

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

The two vaccines have passed the evaluation conducted by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC), which has endorsed them for emergency use.

HTAC said the Pfizer vaccine was 95 percent effective and could be administered to people in the priority groups aged 16 years and above.

It said the AstraZeneca vaccine was 62 percent effective and could be given to eligible populations 18 years and older.

Some countries have reportedly decided not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to the elderly due to efficacy concerns.

But Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Wednesday that the DOH would continue to recommend the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the elderly.

“There is no sufficient evidence presented for us to say that we cannot give AstraZeneca for the elderly, because that was not mentioned in their [emergency use authorization],” Vergeire said.

HTAC said the AstraZeneca vaccine was “acceptable” even for people 56 years old and above. —WITH REPORTS FROM JEROME ANING, JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE AND DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN