Former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday lamented the government’s vaccination program for prematurely announcing it would be vaccinating essential workers when the vaccine supply is not enough.
In a press statement, Binay said many hundreds of workers flocked to vaccination sites only to find out there was no vaccine available for them.
“There are no vaccines, but because of the announcement, many essential workers went to vaccination centers, and majority were not vaccinated,” the former VP said.
“The government played a cruel joke on workers who desperately need to find work, get back to work to feed their families or be protected while working. It’s another government publicity stunt at the workers’ expense,” he said.
“Let’s turn this over to the private sector. Let them vaccinate their employees and give incentives for companies and employees. Let them buy vaccines directly from suppliers or manufacturers,” Binay added.
“We have been under a state of emergency since last year. Yet there seems to be no sense of urgency and out-of-the-box thinking. If we really want to re-open the economy, there should be no room for red tape and government control,” he said.
“Let’s encourage and support private initiatives to get more vaccines and vaccinate more people. Let’s be flexible,” he concluded.