ALL employees of Makati-registeredbusinesses will be covered by the Covid-19 vaccination program of the city,Makati Mayor Abigail Binay said on Sunday.
“We will use the number ofemployees declared by the businesses in their business permit applications asbasis for the number of employees who will be vaccinated for free. This is ourway of helping our economic frontliners,” Binay said, adding that even if theemployees are not Makati residents, they are still qualified.
Binay said the city’sP1-billion budget for the purchase of the vaccines and its share of vaccinesprocured by the national government will be enough to cover all Makati-basedbusinesses, from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to largecompanies.
“We are confident we willhave enough to cover our essential workers who keep businesses running,” she said.
To avail themselves of thefree vaccine, Binay said that companies must have a 2021 business permit andare up-to-date with their tax payments, including those paying in installments.Companies that have purchased vaccines for their employees will no longer beincluded.
“Getting vaccinated is ourbest hope of fighting the coronavirus. It is a chance to regain mobility, andjumpstart the economy. We do not have to live in fear of infecting our familiesand loved ones each time we come home from work,” she said.
The mayor said that expandingthe scope of the city’s vaccination program to the business sector will helpboost its efforts to sustain the city’s economy through 100-percent Covidvaccination.
She noted that duringdaytime, the city’s population balloons to nearly five million as millions ofnon-residents troop to its companies and establishments daily. Makati has aresident population of over 500,000.
Likewise, Binay sought toallay fears among residents and workers who may be apprehensive about itspossible adverse side effects.
She said the city will covermedical expenses and hospital bills of those who experience any adverse effectslinked to the vaccine.
“Anybody who experiencesadverse effects will receive free hospitalization. For non-residents it will becovered by Philhealth and the ‘Malasakit Financial Assistance’ from theDepartment of Health. In Makati, our #ProudMakatizens will get free medical andhealth assistance through our Yellow Card program,” she said.
Speaking at the CoordinatedOperations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team’s recent visit to the city, Binayannounced that the first batch of the Covif-19 vaccines will arrive in Februaryand will immediately be administered to the city’s frontliners.
The rest of the vaccines willarrive by the third quarter of the year, and the city will also wait for itsallocation from the national government, she said.
Binay presented Makati’scomprehensive plan of action to the CODE Team. Besides logistics and manpower,the mayor underscored the need to build vaccination confidence and educateMakatizens why they should have themselves vaccinated.
“Makati is 100 percent ready.Our logistics and pre-vaccination and post-vaccination monitoring systems arein place. We are just waiting for the vaccines to arrive. The challenge for nowis convincing people to get vaccinated. We have to improve our informationdissemination drives and make people understand that the vaccines are good,they are safe, and they will be well taken care of — no matter what,” she said.
The city government of Makatihas allotted P1 billion for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines.
Last January 10, the citysecured one million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine when Binay signed atripartite agreement with the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company and thenational government, represented by the Inter-Agency Task Force in a virtualsigning ceremony.
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