Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello revealed that overseas Filipino workers vaccinated with CoronaVac, manufactured by China’s Sinovac are required to undergo swabbing and mandatory quarantine upon arrival.
Bello said that he will discuss with Saudi officials the current policy.
“Tinatanggap pa rin (ang mga OFWs) pero kailangan dumaan pa rin sa quarantine at may (swab test) pa rin. Hindi kagaya kung Pfizer ka–libre ka na, tuloy-tuloy pa pagpasok mo,” he said in a radio interview.
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Bello said that he will appeal to the Saudi government not to require fully vaccinated OFWs regardless of the brand to undergo institutional quarantine.
Last week, the Labor Department dismissed fears over Saudi Arabia’s new policy on the entry of foreign nationals with specific COVID-19 vaccine brands.
“Sinabihan ako ng policy ng Saudi ay kinocover lamang yung mga foreign traveller at hindi kasama ang ating mga OFW,” Bello said in a media briefing.
READ ON: Bello: Over 500K OFWs repatriated since start of COVID-19 pandemic
The government official said that he explained to their Saudi counterparts the situation on the limited vaccine supply and the government is aiming to vaccinate as many as it can regardless of any approved COVID-19 vaccine.
“They need our OFWs pangalawa nabakunahan naman na nag OFW ibig sabihin no danger of contamination napansin nila na hindi naman tayo sobra sobrang bakuna kung anong bakuna na pwede gamitin sa OFW,” he said.
It was reported that KSA and European member countries will not allow entry for travelers who got the COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical firms such as Sinovac-BioNTech. (TDT)
