A total of 151 undocumented Filipino workers have been double-jabbed as part of a campaign to target vulnerable groups.
This was announced by the Philippines Embassy in a statement in which it revealed that 151 of its nationals received the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine during special sessions at Sitra Mall.
Ambassador Alfonso Ver said, together with embassy officials, undocumented workers from the Filipino community were assisted to register for the Covid-19 vaccine via the BeAware app, and reminded them about their appointments and what health protocols they needed to undertake.
“The 151 undocumented workers overseas Filipinos were among the 204 individuals who received their first dose during the launch of the vaccination programme on June 12,” said an embassy statement.
“Together with the second shot, the 151 are now able to register on the comprehensive BeAware health application and avail all features including an e-vaccination certificafe (green shield),” it added.
The embassy added its programme aimed to cover illegal Filipinos living in Bahrain, and this would further help them to legalise their status and secure documented jobs.
“The green shield, or proof of having received the complete dose of Covid-19 vaccine, is now one of the primary requirements of prospective employers in hiring a worker,” it added.
The embassy urged those who were not able to get their second dose last week, to visit the Hoora Health Centre to complete the process.
There are an estimated 55,000 undocumented workers of different nationalities in Bahrain, although the majority of them are Bangladeshi.
The GDN reported that Bangladesh Embassy called on its unvaccinated nationals to inform the embassy by registering through a link.
The Asian community, the second largest expatriate community in Bahrain, has thousands of undocumented workers who are unable to take the shots due to expired CPRs or residency violations.
Social workers from different nationalities along with respective embassies in the past few weeks have also made arrangements to vaccinate illegal expats, making them safe from the virus and preventing them from becoming community or workspace ‘silent spreaders’.
The World Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Council announced on Twitter that undocumented workers in Bahrain who received their first dose last month were urged to visit Sitra Mall to get the second dose as part of its campaign.
Earlier this month, the Council wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his attention to expand the scope of the proposed ‘ex-gratia Covid-19 death compensation’ initiative to include families of NRIs as well who have lost their bread earner to Covid-19 abroad.
Bahrain has vaccinated more than one million people who have completed the two doses of Covid-19 jab, and administered more than 100,000 booster doses of a vaccine to its population.
Boosters are additional doses of a vaccine administered to ramp up the immune system’s response to a particular pathogen.
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