Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are residents of Belison town in this province are waiting to be prioritized in the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination to return to work abroad.

“For our economy to revive, we have to let these OFWs return to their work abroad,” Mayor Christopher Piccio said in an interview, adding there are 200 to 300 migrant workers among the residents.

While they were abroad, they used to earn as much as USD1,000 to USD1,500 monthly, which they send to their families in Belison, he said. However, they came home and were stuck due to lockdowns in their host countries.

He said if he could have his way, he would like for the vaccination to be opened to the A4 group, which includes OFWs.

In the guidelines of the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC), Antique was not included in areas where the A4 priority group or economic front-liners will be prioritized in the vaccination, Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) information officer Irene Dulduco said.

Meanwhile, Piccio said they had been pushing for the vaccination of those belonging to the A1, A2, and A3 (health care workers, senior citizens, and adults with comorbidities, respectively) priority groups but only a few showed up for the inoculation.

The IPHO report showed that as of July 11, Belison has the lowest vaccination accomplishment out of the 18 towns in Antique, with only 377 for the first dose and 94 for the second dose.

“We had another 50 vaccinated with Gamaleya today (Tuesday),” the mayor said.

He said the A1, A2, and A3 priority groups are mostly professionals and they understand the importance of the Covid-19 vaccination, but then they are more afraid of what they read from the social media.

“I see no point why we have to wait for them to move on to A4 because they (priority group) refused to submit themselves for vaccination,” Piccio said. (PNA)