Villanueva: COVID Special Risk Allowance should extend to pharmacists in vaccine jab work

Pharmacists and other personnel in private drug stores who will serve as COVID-19 vaccination centers must receive the benefits granted to health workers under the 2022 national budget and other laws, Senator Joel Villanueva said.

"Frontline health workers fighting against COVID should be entitled to and receive every benefit that the government can provide. It is their right, and the very least we can do to honor their dedication to end the pandemic," the chair of the Senate labor and employment committee said.

"If they get infected while doing their work, they should get free medical care and receive monetary compensation. This is what the law and common decency tells us to do," Villanueva said.

Under the General Appropriation Act for 2022, healthcare workers who get sick with COVID-19 shall receive P15,000 in compensation for mild or moderate cases; P100,000 for severe or critical; and P1 million if resulting in death.

While workers in private pharmacies are not demanding pay for "the valuable public service they will be doing, it behooves upon the government, however, to offer them some form of honorarium," he said.

"Let's emphasize the "honor" in the "honorarium", considering the risks they face at work, " he said.

And that, Villanueva said, can be sourced from the P51 billion in the 2022 national budget for COVID-19 duty pay and medical care of public and private healthcare workers.

Some P9 billion of that amount is "immediately releasable," he said, while the P42 billion can be financed by excess revenues or new loans.

To entice more people to get vaccinated, the government has tapped selected private drugstores as vaccination sites, with pharmacists administering the vaccine.

Villanueva hailed the move "as a good way of getting more people jabbed by making it easily accessible to the community and hopefully, not a day-long ordeal."

"The more professionals joining the bakuna brigade, the sooner we'll be able to meet our goal of inoculating 100% of the target population by the first week of May, and the sooner they get back to a healthy working environment," he said.

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Villanueva, hiniling na bigyan rin ng Special Risk Allowance ang mga pharmacist na nagbabakuna kontra COVID

Hiniling ni Senator Joel Villanueva na mabigyan rin ng benepisyo ang mga nagtatrabaho sa mga pribadong botika na magsisimula nang magbakuna kontra COVID-19 tulad ng mga healthcare workers o HCWs sa ilalim ng 2022 national at iba pang mga kaugnay na batas,

"Ang posisyon po natin sa isyung ito ay dahil ang kanilang gagawin ay essentially frontline anti-COVID work, kaya nararapat lang na bigyan sila ng Special Risk Allowance na binibigay natin sa ating mga healthcare workers," ani Villanueva, chair ng Senate labor and employment committee.

"Kapag po sila ay tinamaan ng COVID habang nagbabakuna, dapat din ay may free medical care sila at monetary compensation na nakasaad sa ilalim ng ating batas," ani Villanueva.

Nakasaad sa General Appropriation Act ng 2022 na ang mga HCWs na tatamaan ng COVID habang on duty ay makakatanggap ng P15,000 bilang compensation para sa mild o moderate cases; P100,000 para sa severe o critical; at P1 million kung ikakamatay ito.

Kahit na hindi humihingi ng benepisyo ang mga pharmacists at iba pang nagtatrabaho sa botika para sa napakahalagang public service na kanilang ipinagkakaloob, sana ay magpaabot ang gobyerno ng "honorarium" sa kanila.

"Hindi naman tinitingnan yung kung magkano, ang mahalaga ay yung diwa sa likod ng pagbibigay. Mas mainam ito kaysa sa wala," sabi ni Villanueva. "Ibalik po natin ang salitang 'honor' sa honorarium."

Ang halagang ito, dagdag pa ni Villanueva, ay maaaring kuhanin sa P51 bilyon na nakalagak sa 2022 national budget para sa COVID-19 duty pay at iba pang benepisyo ng mga HCWs.

P9 bilyon dito ay maaari nang ilabas agad, habang ang P42 bilyon ay pwedeng pondohan ng sobrang koleksyon sa revenue o mga bagong utang.

Para maiangat ang bilang ng bakunadong mamamayan, inatasan ng pamahalaan ang ilang piling botika para maging vaccination sites na mga pharmacist ang magtuturok ng bakuna.

Pinuri ni Villanueva ang hakbang bilang isang magandang paraan para makahikayat ng mas maraming magpapabakuna.

"Mas maraming propesyonal sa bakuna brigade, mas maaga nating maaabot ang ating target na mabakunahan ang 100% sa ating mga mamamayan sa pagsapit ng unang linggo ng Mayo," ani Villanueva.