CDC Ph calls on DOLE to enforce guidelines vs. unlawful no vaccine, no work policies
HEALTH • 12:15 PM Thu Oct 21, 2021
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By:
Irene Manansala
CDC PH new officials
MANILA - The Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC Ph) recently called on the Department of Labor and Employment to enforce its current guidelines prohibiting employers from mandating vaccinations as a prerequisite for employment.
This request from CDC Ph comes as several business groups released a statement asking for the government to allow companies to impose stricter requirements on unvaccinated employees and patrons, and to decline unvaccinated job applicants.
“CDC Ph supports the current policy of DOLE prohibiting companies from imposing no vaccine, no work policies,” said Dr. Homer Lim, president of CDC Ph. “It’s clear that DOLE saw early on that vaccine mandates are a form of discrimination in the workplace.”
Labor Advisory 03-21, released by DOLE in March this year, states that while employers may encourage employees to get vaccinated, ‘any employee who refuses or fails to be vaccinated shall not be discriminated against in terms of tenure, promotion, training, pay and other benefits, or terminated from employment. No vaccine, no work policy shall not be allowed.’
CDC Ph is an advocate for the constitutionally protected right of every Filipino to make informed choices especially regarding decisions that directly affect their health and the health of their families and loved ones.
“There are Filipinos who are willing to be voluntarily vaccinated, and there are other Filipinos who are concerned that current COVID-19 vaccines were approved only under an emergency use authorization without long-term clinical trials on side effects and adverse reactions,” Lim said. “The government must serve and protect both groups and not favor one over the other.”
Lim cited data from the private website OpenVAERS, which tracks the US-based Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) database, showing that there have been 752,801 reports of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines from all over the world as of September 24, 2021.