NMIS AVAILED VACCINATION FOR ITS EMPLOYEES

To comply with the national government’s effort to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19, the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) made efforts to inoculate its employees who are still unvaccinated on July 23, 2021 at Esteban Abada Elementary School in Quezon City.

19 employees from NMIS Central Office (CO), 21 from Regional Technical Operations Center (RTOC) III, and one from RTOC NCR were included in this vaccination effort.

These employees are part of the A4 priority group set forth by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). The A4 priority group are frontline personnel in essential sectors. (“Fast Facts,” 2021).

According to Ms. Remedios F. Micu, NMIS’s Health and Safety Officer (HSO), the vaccination effort was made possible by the NMIS OIC-Executive Director, Dr. Jocelyn A. Salvador. “She instructed the Human Resource Management (HRM) division of the NMIS to coordinate with the Quezon City Hall to accommodate NMIS employees’ COVID-19 vaccination,” Ms. Micu said. The HRM division then sent a request letter to the Quezon City Hall. The letter was approved on July 22, 2021 that resulted in the quick facilitation of the vaccination of NMIS employees the following day.

Dr. Salvador stressed the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 by saying that vaccination protects us from COVID-19. She added that “even though the vaccination is not foolproof, it reduces the fatality of the virus.” Vaccination not only protects the receiver but also the people around him or her. .

Moreover, Dr. Salvador said that since there is still a scarcity of the vaccine, employees should be grateful to the local government for giving them the chance to get inoculated. “We are not brand specific,” she emphasized. She said that NMIS accepts whatever vaccine is available rather than none at all.

79.4% of CO employees, 75% of RTOC IV-B, and 97.5% RTOC NCR already got vaccinated either just first dose or complete dose as of July 26, 2021. They hold office at the NMIS building on Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.

However, it is not only the employees located at the NMIS building who should get vaccinated. Dr. Salvador said that employees from other RTOCs should get vaccinated, too, since they are the ones who do fieldwork and who commute daily.

Written by: Alexandra D. Robel, July 27, 2021

Reference: Rappler.com. (2021, March 11). FAST FACTS: Prioritized groups, guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/things-to-know-prioritized-groups-guidelines-covid-19-vaccination-philippines