Tourism frontliners now part of the A1 priority group

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the inclusion of “tourism frontliners” in the A1 priority list in a letter to Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat dated May 15, said the Department of Tourism Friday.

The A1 priority group was previously intended for medical frontliners only and is the first group to be vaccinated under the government’s inoculation program.

“It is high time that we protect our tourism frontliners knowing that they are risking their lives each time they show up in the designated quarantine and isolation hotels. This move shows the government’s commitment to protecting them. Not only will this decision help ensure the survival of the tourism industry; this will also hasten the country’s economic recovery,” said Puyat.

Some 2,507 employees of quarantine hotels nationwide have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far.

The IATF-EID also recently approved the inclusion of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) workers in the A4 group, citing their economic support.

SOURCE: ABS CBN