Marcos, Villar hit ‘hesitancy’ to vaccinate essential workers vs COVID-19

(FILE) The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Shrine in Kamuning, Quezon City, has been tapped as one of the vaccination centers in Metro Manila’s most populous city as the government seeks safe, spacious areas to speed up the country’s vaccine rollout.—NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Giving judges and court workers COVID-19 vaccines to speed up the hearing of cases further delayed by the pandemic has crossed the mind of Senator Cynthia Villar.

Joining Villar in lamenting the slow COVID-19 vaccination in the country was Senator Imee Marcos, who particularly questioned the seeming “hesitancy” to start the vaccinations of essential workers.

Marcos pointed out that in Indonesia and Singapore, essential workers were prioritized to accelerate economic recovery.

“I think there’s some wisdom to that,” she said during the hearing of the Senate committee on economic affairs on government’s plan and actions for hard-hit sectors in the country.

Villar agreed, saying: “Magla lobby tayo na buksan na ang A4 (We will lobby to open up A4.”

Essential workers fall under the A4 category of the government’s vaccination priority list.

“I was very puzzled by the hesitancy to open A4. Dapat inagad-agad na yun e,” panel head Marcos further said.

It was at this point that Villar lamented the delay of work in courts due to the pandemic.

“Tulad namin may mga kaso kami e sarado ang court e so delayed lahat. Ako nga papa vaccine-an na ko na yang mga judges at mga worker…Ang bagal na nga lalo pang bumagal,” she said.

Senator Nancy Binay reminded her colleagues that vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has already committed to start the immunization of essential workers by next month.

“Sana. E sila naman announce ng announce, ayaw pa nilang gawin e,” Villar said.

(I hope so. They are the ones announcing it but they don’t want to do it)

“May nakikinig pa ba?” asked Marcos, apparently referring to the government’s pandemic response team.

Villar further explained that private firms could not just vaccinate their workers as they might only be criticized in media.

/MUF