Gov’t launches ‘Jabs in Job Sites’ to increase workforce vax rate

The Philippine government on Tuesday launched in Makati City its “Jabs in Job Sites” vaccination program in a bid to get more workers inoculated against COVID-19.

In a statement, the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 said that this new program is among the government’s “innovative strategies” in its pandemic response by bringing vaccination teams to workplaces to encourage employees to get their primary and booster doses.

The “Jabs in Job Sites” kicked off at the Teleperformance office in Makati City, where 85% of the employees are fully vaccinated.

“Napakalaki po ng ambag ng BPO (business process outsourcing) industry sa ekonomiya ng ating bansa. Kaya naman ganoon din kalaki ang pagpupursigi ng pamahalaan para ang lahat ng empleyado ng industriyang ito ay mabigyan ng booster shot. Malaking tulong ito para makaiwas tayo sa severe cases, pagkaospital o pagkamatay,” NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr. said.

(The BPO industry has made a huge contribution to our country's economy. This is why the government is working to get all employees of this industry to be given a booster shot. This would be a big help for us to avoid severe cases, hospitalization, or death.)

The BPO company, on the other hand, expressed its gratitude to the government, emphasizing how the booster shots would provide an extra layer of protection to their employees against the coronavirus disease.

"This is so important for companies like Teleperformance because we have 57,000 employees in the Philippines and to get vaccines straight to the workplace is a great opportunity for us to keep everybody safe, and at the same time, the government will be able to provide vital service," Teleperformance senior vice president for human capital resource management Jeffrey Johnson said.

Over 63.6 million individuals or 70.76% of the government’s target population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, 10.5 million have received their booster shots, the Department of Health said in its latest report.

The government is eyeing to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of March, and 90 million by the time Duterte steps down from office on June 30.—AOL, GMA News