MANILA (UPDATE) — The inter-agency task force leading the country's COVID-19 response said on Friday it has recommended the inclusion of election workers and those in the business process outsourcing industry in the coronavirus vaccination drive's fourth priority group.

The IATF recommended to the Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (iNITAG) to include "the frontline employees of the business process outsourcing industry and the frontline employees of the Commission on Elections" in priority group A4, said task force and Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque.

The recommendation comes amid Comelec's preparations for the 2022 presidential elections.

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The BPO industry, meanwhile, is expected to hire up to 100,000 more workers this year, which would help lower unemployment figures.

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Government and economic frontliners make up A4, the fourth priority after medical workers, the elderly, and people with health risks.

The A4 and about 16 million indigents who make up A5 are expected to start getting COVID-19 shots "after" May or when the vaccine supply becomes "steady," vaccine "czar" Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said.

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The IATF has moved up some athletes and workers involved in the retail of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the priority line for vaccination.

Authorities have taken delivery of some 8.279 million COVID-19 shots, of which at least 3.229 million have been administered, as of May 18.

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With around 1.6 million COVID-19 cases and 19,641 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest tally of coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia.

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Video courtesy of PTV

IATF OKs BPO workers as A4

Later Friday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the IATF has approved the inclusion of BPO workers in the A4 category, citing its unimpeded growth despite the business slump over the pandemic.

"The IATF supported the move following justifications that DTI presented on the importance of BPO in the economy, citing huge contribution in export revenues, reaching close to $30B a year, bigger than Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) remittances. The Philippines has become among the biggest BPO players in the world, generating around 1.32M direct employment and 4M indirect employments," he said in a statement.

He said the sector "didn’t lay off workers and even continued to hire during this pandemic."

"This is helping the economy in its recovery efforts, in saving jobs and contributions to dollar revenue generation. That, in turn, is helping solidify further the economic fundamentals of the country and stable credit rating for the country," he said.

"We cannot afford to disrupt its very good momentum, especially in this time of pandemic," he added.