MANILA, Philippines — Even non-residents of Makati City working within the localities borders will be allowed access to the city government's P1 billion coronavirus vaccination program, Mayor Abby Binay announced Sunday.
This will include, she said, employees of registered businesses within the city—which includes the country's major central business district—with business permits for the year 2021 and updated tax payments.
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"We are confident we will have enough to cover our essential workers who keep businesses running,” the local chief executive said in a statement issued Sunday afternoon, adding that while the city has 500,000 listed residents, its population skyrockets to up to 5 million when nonresidents head to work within the locality.
"We will use the number of employees declared by the businesses in their business permit applications as [the] basis for the number of employees who will be vaccinated for free. This is our way of helping our economic frontliners," she added.
To recall, the city government is one of many that have secured vaccine deals for their constituents ahead of the rollout of the mass vaccination program by the national government and the Department of Health.
In an earlier statement, Binay disclosed that the LGU had purchased one million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through a tripartite agreement with the British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company and the national government.
“We intend to vaccinate all Makatizens, including real property owners, business owners, and non-registered voters who reside in the city. We want them to be safe from the virus, and we are aiming for 100% vaccination in the city,” she said then.
As of the health department's latest case bulletin on Sunday afternoon, exactly 525,618 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the country since the virus first emerged in December 2019.
It has been 320 days since the enhanced community quarantine was first hoisted. The Philippines is under the world's longest lockdown. — Franco Luna with a report from The STAR