MANILA - Makati's COVID-19 vaccination program will include employees of all registered businesses in the city regardless of their residence, Mayor Abby Binay said Sunday.

The city's population of 500,000 balloons to nearly 5 million when workers troop to their offices in the country's financial district, according to the mayor.

• Makati pledges free COVID-19 vaccines for residents

Companies must have a 2021 business permit and must be up-to-date with their tax payments, including those paying in installments, to get free vaccine, Binay said.

Firms that have purchased vaccines for their employees will no longer be included, she added.

"Getting vaccinated is our best hope of fighting the coronavirus. It is a chance to regain mobility, and jumpstart the economy. We do not have to live in fear of infecting our families and loved ones each time we come home from work,” she said in a statement.

“We will use the number of employees declared by the businesses in their business permit applications as basis for the number of employees who will be vaccinated for free. This is our way of helping our economic frontliners."

Makati has allotted P1 billion for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and has so far secured 1 million doses of AstraZeneca's product.

The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in February and will immediately be administered to the city’s frontliners while the rest of the inoculation will arrive by the third quarter, Binay said.

“Makati is 100 percent ready. Our logistics and pre-vaccination and post-vaccination monitoring systems are in place. We are just waiting for the vaccines to arrive. The challenge for now is convincing people to get vaccinated," she said.

"We have to improve our information dissemination drives and make people understand that the vaccines are good, they are safe, and they will be well taken care of — no matter what."

The city will cover medical expenses and hospital bills of those who experience any adverse effects linked to the vaccine, Binay said.

“For non-residents, it will be covered by PhilHealth and the ‘Malasakit Financial Assistance’ from the Department of Health. In Makati, our #ProudMakatizens will get free medical and health assistance through our Yellow Card program,” she said.

Local governments earlier set aside funds for procurement of vaccines in a bid to augment national government's supply as it aims to inoculate 70 million people against the new coronavirus to achieve herd immunity.

• Philippines to get about 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in February: official

The Philippines as of Saturday logged 523,516 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 36,943 active infections.

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