Filipino Mariners Reclassified in the Vaccination Priority List

As the government’s national vaccination rollout continues, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) recently approved the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) recommendation to include seafarers in the list of priority recipients.

“This is a very good development for our maritime industry champions— our seafarers. Now, our Filipino seafarers will be given priority to be vaccinated. [I have repeatedly pictured our] maritime workforce [as the] silent workers [of the nation]. They work silently, yet their contribution is as crucial as keeping the economy thriving. Not only are they frontliners, but they are undoubtedly HEROES, too,” said DOTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade.

The bid to include seafarers in the priority list was presented by Vice Admiral Narciso Vingson Jr. to the IATF. Vingson is the DOTr OIC Assistant Secretary for Maritime.

“The working group is in the unified position to push for the prioritization of Filipino seafarers in the country’s Covid-19 vaccination program to secure their employment, and to ensure the safe shipping operations of essential goods amid the pandemic,” said Vingson.

As per the IATF recommendation, Filipino mariners have been reclassified to A4, which includes frontline personnel in essential sectors, in the Vaccination Priority Framework. Previously they would have been classified under B3, consisting of other essential workers, or B5, mainly for Overseas Filipino Workers.

The Inter-Agency Working Group, also chaired by Vingson, further classified seafarers into two. Active seafarers with recorded sea service in the last three years will receive top priority, while new seafarers or those with recorded sea service beyond 2018 are ranked second.

There are a total of 549,000 active seafarers, 497,000 of which are deployed overseas and 51,000 are serving locally, according to consolidated data from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). On the other hand, a total of 181,000 mariners are without updated sea service within the last three years.

Collectively, 730,651 Filipino seafarers are for consideration in the A4 category of the prioritization framework.

Source: Business Mirror