Each vaccine brand has different efficacy rates in preventing hospitalization and death. Online articles described statistics about each medicine’s efficacy rates while others mentioned why it’s difficult to compare vaccines. The varying rule of approval of each country’s food and drug agency or their respective health departments/ministries leads to different vaccine requirements for each Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFWs) destination. OFWs will have to deal with vaccine requirements in their work locations. Vaccine efficacies A keyword phrase “Which COVID vaccine is the best” made a spike in search engine searches according to theconversation.com. The results will show you the articles, bar graphs, line graphs, and tables ranking each covid brand from Pfizer and Moderna to Sinovac. People are eager to know if their shots are effective. Gavi.org, a global public and private health organization, defined efficacy and effectiveness. Efficacy refers to the degree to which a vaccine can prevent the disease while effectiveness pertains to how well it performs against new variants. The alliance published this table: Vaccine Protection against all symptomatic disease after 2nd dose Moderna 95% (90% - 97%) Pfizer-BioNTech 94% (90% - 97%) Sinopharm 78% (65% - 86%) AstraZeneca 67% (57% - 74%) Sinovac 51% (36% - 62%) Source: https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/how-effective-are-covid-19-vaccines-real-world The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) also outlined the efficacy rate per brand on their website. Further, Statista, a data analytics site, published this report: Statista vaccine effectiveness chart. WebMD, on the other hand, created a table of comparison including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna. Nikkei Asia reported on December 25, 2020, that Sinovac has shown 91.25% efficacy in Turkey. But on March 3, 2021, the country revised down its efficacy to 83.5% based on the final results of Phase III trials. Vaccine preferences among countries Outbound OFWs or those going back or travelling for work will have to deal with the vaccine preferences of some countries. They have to get a vaccine passport to prove that they have been tested negative and protected against reinfection. Rappler (July 9, 2021) listed a non-exhaustive list of vaccines required by countries with most OFWs. The Visaguide.world listed some of the number of countries that approved a specific vaccine and the number of approved vaccines for each country. Check out this table. You can also check their Vaccine Checker to see if your vaccine is accepted in a specific country. The role of vaccines in easing travel for OFWs Vaccines proved to be effective in reducing the chances of severe symptoms that could land a person in hospital and transmit virus-laden microdroplets to another person. Although, a resurgence of variants may cause uncertainties on vaccine efficacy. Government health agencies and vaccine manufacturers are studying if booster shots can add a layer of protection or dampen the effects of mutations. A US National Institutes for Health published a report that Moderna and Pfizer constitute the best effective Covid boosters. In the Philippines, the government conducted massive vaccinations according to priority groups (front liners, health workers, seniors, people with comorbidities) up to the rest of the population. The country received massive vaccine deliveries in the early 2021. The health department and local government units (LGUs) scheduled people under priority groups (A1 to A5) through online registration. The health authorities moved healthcare OFWs up from the less vaccine priority group (from A4 to A1), and the rest of OFWs from B5 to A4 category. Category Vaccination efforts will use the remaining months of 2021 to administer doses to the general or remaining population. Such vaccination efforts resulted in the easing of restrictions in the country and enabling OFWs to comply with the vaccine requirements of their destination countries. Returning workers require vaccine passports to gain smooth entry into their work destinations. Also, vaccinated returning OFWs (vacationing or retiring) will be at advantage status once they go through checkpoints or quarantine restrictions. Further Helpful References: Where to get a vaccine passport? FAQ about International Certificate of Vaccination Vaccination Passport Philippines: Here’s What To Know Vaccine brand checker Vaccine Checker for Travelling Abroad Vaccine tracker Covid 19 Vaccine Tracker Vaccine rates, approvals and trials per country Vaccine efficacy Mayo Clinic Statista Vaccine brands accepted list EU countries accepting Sinovac Vaccination certificates per country Countries that accept Moderna

DOH to elevate OFWs (both healthcare and non-healthcare workers) to the vaccine priority list. According to the health undersecretary, Ma. Rosario Vergeire at the congress health committee hearing, the healthcare OFWs must be upgraded from A4 to A1 and the rest of the OFWs be moved from B5 to A4 category. Also, the undersecretary echoed the DOH Secretary’s recommendation to IATF to move other OFWs into the A4 category. Here’s the list of priority groups approved by country’s Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (iNITAG). A1: frontline workers such as health professionals (doctors, nurses, medtech, rad tech, barangay healthcare workers) and non-healthcare professionals. Other frontline workers in essential sectors include security personnel and delivery riders. A2: Senior citizens (aged 60 above). A3: People with comorbidities or having one or more diseases/conditions not otherwise included in the preceding categories. A4: Frontliners working in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the IATF as essential during ECQ A5: Indigent population not otherwise included in the preceding categories B1: Teachers, Social workers B2: Other government workers B3: Other workers in the essential group B4: Socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and indigenous people B5: OFWs B6: Other remaining workforce C: This C category refers to the rest of the Filipino population not included in the preceding groups. So far, as of March 29, 2021, a total of 702,362 people have been vaccinated - 4,009 senior citizens and 698,353 healthcare workers.

The Commission on Audit (COA) pointed out the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for using only 31 percent of P88.45 million livelihood funds for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) groups. COA's audit report shows that only P27.88 million was utilized by the Regional Welfare Offices (RWO) for the program Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Pag-Unlad ng Samahang OFWs (Tulong PUSO). Resulting to amass of at least P55 million has been refunded to the DOLE's central office. According to a report, the poor utilization of funds was due to lack of manpower, time limitations, and lack of ability of OFWs to comply requirements given by OWWA’s RWOs. Spearheaded by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the OWWA in 2018, the Tulong PUSO program primarily aims to support the livelihood ventures of accredited associations of overseas Filipino workers. With that being said, COA urged OWWA to advise DOLE whenever an issue or any problem arises, especially those that can possibly cause the poor application of the said fund. OWWA then guaranteed that the remaining P55 million fund will be returned in no time to DOLE's central office.

Amid the street protests that are taking place in Hong Kong, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that there is no need to impose a ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) yet. DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III then said that they are waiting for the take and recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) before they make any move regarding the current tension of protest in Hong Kong, and the possibility of banning the deployment of OFWs. He then advised Filipino workers in Hong Kong to stay put in their workplace, and avoid places where the protest is happening after a Filipino worker had been arrested after being accused of participating in the said street protest. He also added that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) will be monitoring the situation as per the possibility of banning deployment. Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Hans J. Cacdac stated in an interview that the agency is open to aid Filipino workers planning to go to Hong Kong by giving them food, accommodation assistance, and rebooking of flights. As Hong Kong is currently home to nearly 200,000 Filipino workers, the semi-autonomous Chinese city's unrest shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Photo by: Studio Incendo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

President Rodrigo Duterte in his 4th annual State of The Nation Address (SONA) last July 24, reiterated his call for the creation of the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (DOFW). The said department will focus solely on the welfare and well-being of millions of Filipinos working in foreign countries. The DOFW creation will then provide prompt, immediate and effective response to the problems of OFWs, from deployment to repatriation. As the said new agency will promote the overall welfare, rights and needs of OFWs and their own respective families. And by December this year, the President calls to put the DOFW on work, stating that he would rush the formation of the separate executive department, and vowed to give government supervision regarding the process of recruitment. The President also further warned illegal recruiters inside and outside of the country that their days of terror are numbered, as he plans to let the government take full supervision in the operations of recruiting. Further advising Filipinos who wantto work abroad to only participate in the services of legal recruiters. That being said, the proposed department will aim to put recruitment agencies under strict supervision and a must-follow government regulations. Meanwhile, different recruitment agencies, and various groups of overseas workers are pleased by the effort of the Philippine government in improving the state of OFWs.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) established assistance desks for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to aid them with their OFW emergency card (e-card) concerns at the three terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). As per OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, the assistance centers which aim to help OFWs regarding their concerns about the e-card were established in coordination with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). The OFW e-card, which was launched in November 2018 serves as a proof of active OWWA membership and provides easy access to welfare services, scholarships, training programs, and social benefits from OWWA. The e-card can be availed for free by all Balik-Manggagawa OFWs with active OWWA membership, valid Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) or Exemption Number, and a valid passport. The e-card also serves as a valid ID which can be used by OFWs for transactions in different government agencies. To apply for an OFW e-card, visit the OWWA website at https://www.owwa.gov.ph/