The House of Representatives is eyeing to spend P50 million to shoulder the coronavirus immunization of all congressional staff, journalists covering the chamber, and 5 of their immediate family members.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said during a press briefing on Wednesday, December 16, that having the House staff vaccinated would help ensure the passage of bills even if the COVID-19 pandemic rages on in 2021.

He also said journalists covering the House as well as 5 of their respective family members will be covered by the chamber’s free COVID-19 immunization program.

“We’ve decided that for the normalcy of business in Congress, we’ve decided to set aside a certain amount for the vaccines, for purchasing of vaccines for our employees times 5. So 5 of their immediate family members will be included, mainly because we want the legislative mill to be grinding,” the Speaker said. 

“Of course, I also thought about our media friends, who are also considered as our family. So we’ll include our media friends in the vaccines,” added the Marinduque congressman in Filipino.

Velasco said the district and party-list lawmakers will not be part of the immunization initiative yet.

“Members of the House will not be included for now. We’ll start to get the vaccines first for the employees and the media and their families. If there are supplies left, then that’s the time we use them for the House members and also 5 of the immediate members of their family,” he said.

Velasco later told reporters in a Viber message that the House will be allotting P50 million from its internal budget in 2021 to fund the COVID-19 vaccination costs.

“We are looking at P50 million to be allotted for vaccines. The 5 immediate family members will be applied also to Congress media,” Velasco said. 

He said the COVID-19 vaccine from either Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac or British firm AstraZeneca would “most probably” be administered, whichever would be available in the Philippine market in the 1st quarter of 2021. 

The House staff and the media, however, are not among the sectors that health officials are prioritizing for the initial deployment of COVID-19 vaccines in “high-burden” areas next year. 

Philippine vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr earlier said health officials want frontline health and government workers, senior citizens, indigent Filipinos, and uniformed personnel to be the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines. 

COVID-19 cases in House

A total of 98 people recently tested positive for COVID-19 in the House after Velasco ordered the first mass testing initiative in the chamber starting November 10. 

Most of the cases were asymptomatic, but the House leadership did not disclose how many of the 98 cases were lawmakers and staffers. 

Prior to November 10, the House had already tallied over 80 COVID-19 cases since March.

At least 8 legislators have tested positive for COVID-19 since March. The late Senior Citizens representative Francisco Datol Jr succumbed to COVID-19 in August, the first Filipino lawmaker to die of the disease.

Sorsogon 2nd District Representative Maria Bernardita “Ditas” Ramos also passed away in September two days after her COVID-19 infection was announced. But her official cause of death was not disclosed to the public.

Three House employees already died due to COVID-19. – Rappler.com