The House of Representatives assured that they will allocate internal funding for the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program among its employees and their immediate families.

According to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, ensuring the health and safety of members and employees is as important as “keeping the legislative mill running”.

“Five of their immediate family members will be included mainly because we just want the legislative mill to be grinding,” he said.

Velasco added that he did not forget the “media friends”, who can also avail the vaccination program.

“Naisip ko rin po na ang ating media friends, we consider you as our family, we will include our media friends to be part of the vaccines,” Velasco shared. “We will get vaccines first for the employees and the media. Kapag may natira, that’s the time we will use them for the House members and their families.”

Recently, the House recorded 98 positive cases of COVID-19 after Velasco initiated the first-ever mass testing since March. Majority of the infected were asymptomatic.

Velasco said that in 2021, the House is eyeing to finally put an end to the ongoing pandemic.

“We are talking about ending the pandemic, and definitely we see the distribution of vaccines already in different countries. I believe that the IATF has already ordered roughly around 20 to 30 million vaccines for the country,” Velasco ended.