SBMA ramps up vaccine drive for economic frontliners

The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has expanded the coverage of its vaccination drive to include more workers in locator-companies here and sustain productivity in this special economic and free port zone.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the Subic agency is getting more workers inoculated with increased vaccine allocations from the Department of Health (DOH), as well as donations from private groups like the ICTSI Foundation.

Last Thursday, Eisma supervised the launch of the second phase of SBMA’s vaccination program at the Subic Gym, with 250 employees of MSK Group Work, Inc. (Subic) and some SBMA personnel receiving their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine from the ICTSI Foundation.

“This is the start of a more intensified vaccination program for Subic stakeholders because we are able to secure more vaccines now since we have a storage facility with a total capacity of 40,000 doses,” she added.

The SBMA chief also pointed out that under the SBMA-DOH vaccine rollout, the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department continues to vaccinate qualified recipients in the A1 to A4 categories of the government’s priority list.

SBMA Deputy Administrator for Health and Safety Ronnie Yambao said the intensified rollout is also made possible by the availability of two inoculation sites: the Subic Gym and the activity center of the Harbor Point Ayala Mall here.

Yambao said that as the SBMA administered the second dose of Sinovac vaccines from the DOH to locator employees at the Harbor Point Ayala Mall on Friday, another team was inoculating workers of the Mikuni Terminals Mechatronics Philippines Corp. with the first dose of AstraZeneca.

“We can do simultaneous vaccine rollouts because we have these two vaccination sites that can accommodate hundreds at a time,” Yambao explained.

“This morning at the gym, we finished up with 180 doses of AstraZeneca for Mikuni employees and in the afternoon, it was the turn of employees from GrainPro. All the while, the rollout for Sinovac was continuing at Harbor Point,” he added.

Aside from the aforementioned companies, Chairman Eisma said that Subic companies like Exxinum and Sanyo Denki will have their employees inoculated within company premises. Another firm, Nicera, will have its workers vaccinated at Harbor Point. Juken Sangyo, a Japanese firm at the Subic Techno Park, had its workers vaccinated on Sunday.

Eisma recounted that last July, the Subic Bay Freeport launched the vaccination program for essential workers in the A4 priority list with Secretary Vince Dizon, the deputy chief implementer of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque gracing the occasion at the Nidec factory site.

“This is just the continuation of the A4 vaccination program we launched last July, but this time we’re doing it at a faster pace because we have a steady supply of vaccines,” she said.

Eisma also expressed thanks to the ICTSI Foundation for the vaccine donation, as well as to Subic companies that provided biomedical refrigerators to store vaccines.

“This is the first step for the Subic Bay workforce to get back to normal life and help renew economic growth. It is very important that we all get vaccinated and back on track,” Eisma added. (MPD.SBMA)