The Deputy Minister of Health, Ivette Berrío reaffirmed this Monday the call for attention made last Friday by the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo to the officials regarding the placement of the vaccine against COVID-19.

"We are effectively evaluating the possibility of even establishing vaccination points in State entities due to the concern that exists about how aggressive the strains are. We as a Government need to assure our fellow citizens, especially in a time as complicated as the pandemic, that they do not We only provide the vaccine so that everyone can have access to it, but we as public servants also provide that security since we serve people, we are the ones who receive them, guide and are in direct contact with citizens," said the deputy minister.

Although Berrío acknowledged that the percentage of public officials who have not been vaccinated is small, the deputy minister stressed that President Cortizo's call for attention on this situation exposes the government's concern about the new strains that are in the country and how quickly they are they spread.

"The percentage is a low percentage, but at this time of the pandemic, every unvaccinated person is an entity that can spread the virus. As a government, we do not want our collaborators to be a propagating entity," the deputy minister said.

Berrío pointed out that they understand that some officials have not been vaccinated, since due to their working hours they have not been able to arrive on time and that is why they will seek to take the COVID-19 vaccination to the entities.

Finally, the minister pointed out that business owners have the power to request that their collaborators be vaccinated, stressing that the common good should prevail.

Mandatory vaccination in the private sector?

In the same vein is the Vice Minister of Labor Roger Tejada, who indicated that the public servant is due to the Panamanian people, since they are providing a State service and consequently they must protect the citizens and their work environment.

"In the Labor Code where the obligations of the worker, the prohibitions and the obligations of the employer are very clearly established in articles 126, 127, 128 and 129 ... within these, to go a little with in-depth content on the subject , they talk about the needs, first of the worker, to observe the preventive measures dictated by the competent authority to take care of life and health and the hygienic and preventive measures towards workers, this with respect to workers in the private sector," explained Tejada.

On the other hand, the deputy minister pointed out that the Labor Code does not clearly establish that a private sector worker can be dismissed for not wanting to be immunized, but he noted that in France and 9 other countries similar measures are being applied to make vaccination against COVID-19, and that is being analyzed in Panama.