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Santos wants port-related workers among those who’ll get vaccine 1st
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Posted on Dec 16 2020
Sen. Teresita A. Santos (Ind-Rota) has recommended to the Governor’s COVID-19 Task Force to include port-related workers—as well as workers who support e-commerce, or electronic commerce—as essential workers who should first get the vaccine against the COVID-19 virus.
In a letter to COVID-19 Task Force chair Warren F. Villagomez last week, Santos said these port-related workers and other essential operational support functions help provide essential and critical supplies.
“These essential workers are out there putting themselves at risk to allow the rest of us to socially distance,” said the senator, adding that these workers are fundamental to the CNMI’s response to the pandemic.
Considering that the CNMI is surrounded by water, port-related workers, as well as those who support ecommerce, should also be included among essential workers like law enforcers, educators and critical support staff, the man’amko or senior citizens, people with underlying medical conditions, social workers, and others, Santos said.
The lawmaker shared her concern with Villagomez as the CNMI anticipates to receive the vaccine created by Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, possibly in the next two weeks.
She said she understands that the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. will offer the vaccine first to health care workers and front-line responders as per the recommendation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Santos said in the event that the CNMI is provided with a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, states and territories will likely vary in terms of which essential workers will get the vaccine first.
The senator said the COVID-19 Task Force must let the data help determine this list and that she believes it should be a risk-based decision.
