Excused absences for workers that manifest adverse effects of vaccine

 BAGUIO CITY – (April 06, 2021) – City officials recently requested the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to consider the merit of granting excused leave of absences to employees in the private sector who would experience and manifest adverse effects after receiving Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 vaccination.

Under Resolution No. 142, series of 2021, signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, city legislators stated that the same absences should not be deducted from their existing leave credits.

Earlier, the health department and the city government started the roll out of the vaccination to health workers and individuals with co-morbidities amidst the limited supply of the vaccines provided not only to the city but also to the whole Cordillera.

The council noted that the side effects of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines vary from person to person.

For some people, the Council stipulated that the adverse reaction of any of the vaccines would require them to take a rest and to take a leave of absence for those employed in both the government and the private sectors.

According to the health department, it is normal for a vaccinated individual to reportedly experience side effects which may include fever, fatigue, headaches, body itches, chills, and nausea.

Further, other individuals might also experience pain, swelling on the injected part, redness, an itchy rash, and mild forms of irritation around the injected side.

Health experts claimed that the side effects being experienced by vaccinated individuals indicate that the immunity of the said persons are being developed by the vaccine.

The council pointed out that the labor department and the employers should be considerate to the employees that are forced to go on leave due to the post-vaccine effects to allow them to cope with the side effects by excusing them from such leave of absences to regain their productivity and serve their employers more healthy after recovering from the such adverse effects after immunization.

The council suggested to the employers to consider the excused leave of absences of their workers who were vaccinated and experienced adverse side effects after immunization as an added benefit to them.

Part of the health workers who were initially vaccinated with the roll out of the vaccination are government frontliners who had been delivering quality health care services to the COVID patients since the start of the pandemic early last year.

Copies of the aforesaid resolution will be transmitted to the DOE and the CSC for their information and appropriate action. – Dexter A. See