Ilocos Norte requires COVID-19 jabs for on-site workers

Residents wait for their turn to receive COVID-19 jabs in Laoag City during the three-day national vaccination drive. (Photo courtesy of Ilocos Norte provincial government)

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—Employees required to perform on-site work in this province must be vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc said in an executive order issued Tuesday.

All establishments covered by the new rule “shall require their eligible employees, who are tasked with doing on-site work, to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Manotoc said in his order.

The governor said on-site workers who remained unvaccinated beginning Dec. 7 would not be terminated but would have to undergo COVID-19 antigen tests “regularly” at their own expense.

Manotoc said the provincial health task force would conduct random inspections at public and private establishments to ensure they comply with the new order.

For partially vaccinated on-site employees, they would not be required to present a negative COVID-19 antigen test result provided their “second dose is not yet due.”

The partially vaccinated would have to also regularly undergo COVID-19 testing if they failed to get their second dose during their schedule.

The provincial government is encouraging businesses and offices operating indoor spaces to require their customers and clients to present proof of vaccination before they are allowed entry.

Manotoc also said businesses are given the right to “deny service to individuals who remain unvaccinated, are merely partially vaccinated or refuse to exhibit any proof of vaccination.”

This rule, however, excludes “frontline and emergency services” regardless of the person’s vaccination status.

Manotoc said only fully vaccinated individuals shall be allowed to attend gatherings and events.

The Ilocos Norte government, citing data from the Department of Health, said at least 64 percent of the 431,801 target eligible population had been fully vaccinated, while 440,801, or 102-percent of the target, had been partially vaccinated.

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