POEA crafting guidelines on giving ‘preferred’ vax to OFWs

MANILA – The government is crafting guidelines for giving priority to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be inoculated with vaccines preferred by host countries.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard Olalia said they are currently discussing matters with other government agencies and stakeholders on providing vaccines that are favored by host countries to migrant workers who are scheduled to leave soon.

“The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with the help of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), POEA and stakeholders in the overseas employment industry are creating specific guidelines and included in these guidelines on how to effectively implemented the A1 priority categorization of our ng OFWs,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing on Tuesday.

He added that they are also coordinating with the local government units (LGUs) regarding the measure.

“We are coordinating through our Department of Labor to the respective LGUs, are hoping since there is a vaccine preference by the destination country of a particular OFW, that vaccine should be given to him/her which is in relation with the guidelines that we are crafting,” he added.

Olalia added that since OFWs have been included in the A1 list, they can go to the vaccination sites of their LGUs as walk-ins.

“Since they are now part of the A1 priority level. It means that anytime they can go to areas of vaccination but they have to coordinate with the LGUs,” he said.

Olalia added that they also continue to talk with labor officials of countries regarding their vaccine requirements.

Reports said host countries prefer migrant workers who have been inoculated with Western-made jabs such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.