The Department of Transportation (DOTr) Thursday has begun inoculating its officials and personnel on Thursday, with 258 receiving their first dose at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.
In a DOTr Facebook post, DOTr Undersecretary for Administrative Service Artemio Tuazon Jr. said 516 out of the DOTr’s 900-strong workforce have voluntarily registered for vaccination, with the second batch, numbering at 258, scheduled “early next week” after their pre-assessment.
Tuazon said 23 employees did not meet the criteria for the previous pre-assessment.
Aside from the 516 volunteers, he said some DOTr personnel were already vaccinated in their respective local government units.
He noted that DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade aims to have majority of DOTr personnel, or everyone willing to receive the vaccine, inoculated.
“Even before the vaccine rollout for A4 category, matagal nang gusto ni Secretary Art Tugade na mabakunahan lahat ng mga tauhan natin na willing o may gusto (Tugade has long been planning to have all willing personnel vaccinated),” Tuazon said.
The DOTr officials who received their first dose during the event include Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Reiner Paul Yebra, Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns Manuel Gonzales, and Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development Sheilah Napalang.
To date, the DOTr said 282 of their personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 since July 2020, three remaining active cases, 276 recoveries, and three deaths.
Source: Philippines News Agency