BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is calling on local chief executives (LCEs) to encourage employees to get vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The city mayors of Cadiz and Bago were the first to issue memorandums requiring their employees to get vaccinated.
Asked if he will implement the same policy in the provincial government, Lacson said he will check first how many employees are yet to receive anti-coronavirus jabs.
The capitol has around 3,000 employees.
On Thursday, Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. of Cadiz issued Memorandum Order No. SGE-059-2021 requiring all employees and consultants to submit COVID-19 vaccination cards or certificates to their respective department heads or supervisors before Nov. 29.
Starting Dec. 1, unvaccinated employees would be required to submit negative results of their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests or rapid antigen tests every week at their own expense.
Any employee who fails to submit their RT-PCR or rapid antigen tests would be marked as absent, according to Escalante.
Meanwhile, non-compliant consultants will not receive their honoraria.
The order also covers officials and employees of national government agencies operating in Cadiz City.
They, too, must submit their vaccination cars or certificates before Nov. 29 or they will not be allowed to enter city hall and other local government buildings.
Bago City’s Mayor Nicholas Yulo also issued a memorandum “strongly encouraging” officials and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, through Resolution No. 148-B, requires the vaccination of employees reporting on-site in both public and private sectors in areas where there are sufficient vaccine supplies./PN
