MMDA PR
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is earmarking P20 million from its 2020 internal income for the purchase of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines when available to protect its employees from the deadly virus.
MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said the agency will appropriate funds to ensure the procurement of anti-COVID-19 vaccines through the help of Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC), an attached agency under the Department of Trade and Industry.
According to Lim, the MMDA is in coordination with PITC President and CEO Dave Almarinez. Once finalized, the agency will execute a Memorandum of Agreement with PITC for the inclusion of MMDA on the procurement of the vaccines worth ₱20 million.
PITC has been mandated by President Rodridgo Duterte to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from overseas.
“The vaccine will add up to our sustained efforts against COVID-19. Our personnel who are mostly frontliners can be fully secured of their health,” he said.
Lim also said that each employee can also nominate one member of his/her family to receive vaccination as well.
“Our employees’ families are as important as they are to us. We want them to be protected, too,” Lim added.
For his part, MMDA General Manager Jojo Garcia likened having vaccinated against COVID-19 to the “matchstick principle.”
“Vaccination can stop the spread of the virus. COVID-19 spread from one person to another but when a person is vaccinated, he is protected from the virus. COVID-19 vaccines can help boost our personnel’s immune system thus decreasing their risk from getting the virus,” said Garcia.
Moreover, the MMDA COVID-19 Committee, which oversees the implementation of internal guidelines with regard to the prevention of the virus amongst employees, continues to recommend additional safety protocols deemed necessary.
In its fight against COVID-19, the committee conducts regular disinfection on all MMDA offices and strictly implements minimum health protocols among employees and visitors.
Further, the agency had set up an isolation facility to accommodate employees exposed to persons with COVID-19, tested positive on rapid test, and for those awaiting swab test results.
Currently, the MMDA has more than 8,000 employees, with almost eighty percent working in the field on various locations in Metro Manila.