CLARK FREEPORT (CIAC-CCO, August 18) — The president of the Clark International Airport Corp. on Wednesday said the agency targets to get all of the CIAC workforce inoculated by next month, and to purchase a COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test equipment to be used on a regular basis.
“This will be our two-pronged approach to fight COVID-19 at CIAC that while vaccines are generally working well, some fully-vaccinated individuals may still get infected because no vaccines are 100 percent effective,” Aaron Aquino, CIAC president and CEO, said.
“We target to achieve a 100-percent fully-vaccinated personnel by September and, thereafter, for a regular test among employees using a CIAC-owned equipment,” Aquino added.
As of August 16, ninety-one percent or 142 out of 156 CIAC employees have already been injected with the Sinovac vaccine.
Aquino also expressed gratitude to Secretary Vicencio Dizon, president of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, who also serves as the country’s testing czar, and to the officials of the Clark Development Corp. “for including CIAC employees in the inoculation campaign” inside the Clark Freeport Zone.
“We’re grateful to President Duterte’s testing czar (so) we’re awaiting Secretary Dizon’s go signal for the purchase of the antigen test machine, a measure we believe is economical and a checking system to ensure a COVID19-free workplace even if we have fully-vaccinated personnel,” Aquino noted.
Of the figure, 91 CIAC employees, or 58 percent, have been fully vaccinated while 51, or 33 percent, have been given their first dose and are awaiting their second dose.
The employees were inoculated at the Clark One-Stop Government Center supervised by medical teams from CDC.
Aquino said the effort is CIAC’s way of contributing to the national government’s campaign against the deadly respiratory disease.
“On a national scale, the inoculation process is a daunting task and so we hope by getting all of our staff fully vaccinated, and tested on a regular basis, we’ll be able to help government in its continued effort to fight COVID-19,” Aquino said.
