The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has asked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government to have overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine before their deployment to the host country.

In a virtual forum Wednesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said, “it is not only for the protection of our workers but also for the protection of the people in UAE. So, it is not a condition. It is a suggestion and the reaction seems to be positive.”

Bello said this was discussed during the Joint Committee Meeting between the Philippines and the UAE held in Manila.

“The vaccination issue was discussed during the meeting with our Philippine representative with UAE they came up with the consensus…landmark agreement where our negotiator suggested that since we are sending our workers, maybe they would like to have our OFWs vaccinated before they are deployed,” he said.

On the exemption of the United Kingdom from the deployment cap of sending nurses abroad, Bello said he had submitted his recommendation to the technical working group of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“It is still pending with the technical working group. The technical working group will study my proposal then present it to the IATF and it is the task force that will come up with the recommendation to the Office of the President,” he said.

Bello would like all OFWs to be vaccinated, in case both host countries have agreed to give the vaccines.

“All OFWs, not only limited to nurses. If they are willing to provide the vaccines, they might as well vaccinate all our overseas Filipino workers,” he said. (PNA)