Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat observes during the vaccination of San Vicente, Palawan tourism workers. Photo courtesy of Department of Tourism
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) has started the vaccination of tourism workers in the different areas of Palawan with the aim of vaccinating 31,000 tourism workers.
Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat led the ceremonial vaccination of tourism workers in Coron, El Nido, San Vicente, and Puerto Princesa City on Tuesday.
“It is crucial that we continue the swift rolling out of the national vaccination program in order to prevent the spread of the Delta variant,” Puyat said in her speech.
According to Puyat, an initial 4,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines have arrived in the said areas in Palawan, which will be used to inoculate the first batches of tourism workers.
The DOT has requested 62,000 doses, of which 30,000 is allocated for Puerto Princesa City, which employs nearly 15,000 tourism workers, while the remaining 32,000 vaccine doses will be for the tourism workers of Coron, El Nido, and San Vicente.
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“Vaccinating our tourism frontliners will provide protection, peace of mind, and the confidence to travel as we boost recovery and restore livelihoods by promoting domestic tourism,” Puyat said.