If each business spends its own money to buy vaccines for its employees, this cost is many times cheaper than the damage caused by Covid 19.
On May 17, the Textile and Garment Association (Vitas) sent a petition to the Government and the Ministry of Health on supporting textile and garment enterprises to buy/inject Covid-19 vaccines. According to Mr. Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, the textile and garment industry currently has nearly 3 million workers. A business only needs to be separated, quarantined and not working for 14-21 days, it is considered as a broken one-year production plan, the consequences are enormous, the business is in danger of closing, bankruptcy, people workers lose their jobs and have no income.
"Currently, businesses have signed orders, many businesses have signed until the end of the year, if they do not produce and deliver on time, they will be fined, cancel orders, damage to the whole industry can reach billions of dollars and affect seriously damage the reputation of Vietnam", the official dispatch stated.
Therefore, VITAS has sent a petition to the Government and the Ministry of Health to support textile and garment enterprises to buy/inject Covid-19 vaccine, accordingly, priority should be given to vaccination for enterprises with large labor force in the region. translation center; Priority is given to businesses to buy vaccines for their employees (according to the policy of socialization proposed by the government) to accelerate the process of herd immunity through vaccination; Creating conditions to mobilize partner channels, international organizations, and brands to work together to bring vaccines to Vietnam on the mechanism of businesses participating and contributing.
The next day, the Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) also sent an official letter to the Prime Minister, proposing that the Government support leather and footwear businesses to be given priority in vaccination against Covid-19 in central areas. Translate.
According to Lefaso, despite having to cut 30%-50% of total global orders, because many foreign brands have shifted orders from Myanmar, Cambodia, India, China... to production in Vietnam. In 2020, Vietnam still achieved an export turnover of leather and footwear of 19.8 billion USD, down only 10% while the global decline was 22%. Entering 2021, the export turnover of the industry increased by 10% monthly compared to the same period last year.
However, the reality of the Covid epidemic situation in recent times shows that the risk of disease spread is very high in industrial zones. In particular, the leather and footwear industry, with a total of about 1.5 million employees, each factory has from a few thousand to tens of thousands of employees, is facing a high risk of the rapidly spreading Covid-19 epidemic, due to the specific characteristics of the industry. many workers in factories in concentrated industrial zones.
With such a large density of workers, it is extremely difficult to ensure safety against the Covid pandemic.
"If businesses have to implement social distancing, quarantine and do not work for 14-21 days, foreign customers will cancel all orders, leading to business bankruptcy, a large number of employees in the industry will be lost. If the epidemic spreads in industrial zones, the State also has to bear the burden of costs for fighting the epidemic, leading to enormous damage to the whole society," Lefaso proposed to the Government to allow businesses to Leather and footwear industry, together with import partners and foreign brands, are entitled to financial contributions to buy vaccinations for workers at enterprises, according to the Government's policy of socializing vaccine purchase.
The Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) has also sent an official letter requesting that wood businesses have access to and order about 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Currently, the wood industry has about 5,300 enterprises, employing over 700,000 employees; in addition, there are tens of thousands of laborers in wood craft villages across the country; This is an important resource in production for the wood industry to achieve the export target of over 15 billion USD in 2021 and 20 billion USD in 2025.
The association recommends giving priority to wood processing enterprises in industrial parks and areas with a large concentration of workers, especially in Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Dinh and Ha Noi provinces. Noi is the locality with many enterprises with over 1000 employees.
Mr. Do Xuan Lap - Chairman of the Association shared, "If each business spends its own money to buy vaccines for its employees, this cost is many times cheaper than the damage caused by Covid-19. Being aware of that, the wood industry business community is committed to being ready to accompany the Government". Through the epidemics, it has been shown that, at times of social isolation or local isolation, hundreds of thousands of freight trains, container trips, a series of services have to be closed, many industries in the economy are stagnant. , which means that the damage to the whole economy is enormous, compared to the cost of vaccination.
The survey shows that, not only large employers, most businesses and many people want to be self-sufficient in vaccination costs.
Responding to Economics and Forecasts, Mr. Lee Jae Eun, General Director of Everpia JSC, said that the Government should aim at the policy of socialization to accelerate the process of herd immunity thanks to enough vaccines. "We believe that businesses and economic organizations completely agree and are willing to pay to protect the health and safety of their employees, as well as protect their own operations. State budget should be prioritized for employees of state agencies, as well as support for a section of people who have difficulty and cannot access vaccines, "said Mr. Lee.
According to some opinions, allowing businesses to buy vaccines on their own will cause inequality in society, Mr. Phan Duc Hieu, Deputy Director of CIEM suggested that the Government open a mechanism for businesses to negotiate to buy vaccines themselves. The Ministry of Health needs to control the list of vaccines of sufficient quality for businesses to buy under this list and the Ministry of Health takes care of organizing vaccination for people according to the source of vaccines purchased according to the list. The opening here is for businesses to find their own sources of goods and spend money to buy vaccines to protect themselves. This does not cause inequality because the State will have resources to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.
Mr. Hieu's comments met with some objections, one expert said that the purchase of vaccines must still be managed by the Government in order to implement a fair, comprehensive and cost-effective domestic vaccination program.
According to calculations by the Ministry of Health, it is expected to buy 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to vaccinate about 75 million people, with a total cost of about 25,200 billion VND, including funding for vaccine purchase and transportation. transporting, preserving, distributing and organizing vaccination.
Regarding funding sources to buy vaccines, the central budget is expected to allocate about 16,000 billion VND, ensuring for objects under the central management and supporting local budgets in difficulty; The local budget spends and mobilizes contributions from businesses and organizations about 9,200 billion VND.
Especially when the epidemic lasts for a long time, the annual demand for vaccines will increase, the cost of buying vaccines is large, if only relying on the state budget, it will be difficult to meet the epidemic prevention goal for the entire population.
On May 26, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor sent a written request to the Prime Minister to consider and officially direct the addition of workers at enterprises to the list of priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19. .
Chau Cao
By Business and Marketing
https://cafef.vn/nhieu-doanh-nghiep-de-xuat-duoc-tra-chi-phi-mua-vaccine-tiem-cho-nguoi-lao-dong-20210529095937852.chn
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