Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, Inc. (PSE:PIZZA) rolls out its COVID-19 vaccine booster program for all its fully vaccinated employees, in support of and accordance with the Philippine government’s vaccination and booster program and guidelines.
To date, all employees at Shakey’s company-owned stores have been fully vaccinated.
Shakey’s Pizza has contracted vaccine booster doses in partnership with its affiliate company, Century Pacific Food, Inc. These shall be administered for free, on a voluntary basis, to all Shakey’s employees nationwide. The Company’s vaccination program also covers the dependents of its employees, including support for its key suppliers to secure the health of their own personnel.
Vicente Gregorio, President and CEO of Shakey’s Pizza, said, “The health and safety of our employees and our guests remain paramount. With the Omicron variant’s high degree of transmissibility, we have made it our imperative to implement vaccination and boosting to continuously protect our people and community.”
Early in the year, the Philippines saw a rapid increase in the number of new COVID cases as the Omicron variant made its global onslaught. To curb the spread, the government placed Metro Manila and other provinces under Alert level 3 which limits indoor dining to 30% and outdoor dining to 50% of capacity.
According to Gregorio, the Company is fully prepared to handle this eventuality through strategic pivots that the company has made to provide Shakey’s with more agility.
“First, at the beginning of this pandemic, we have implemented structural changes and unearthed operational efficiencies, providing us with a strict cost discipline that we are now applying to all our new stores. Second, we have strengthened our off-premise business to ensure that we’re able to serve our guests safely and continuously. We built smaller stores aimed at delivery and carryout, launched a new and improved delivery app, and rolled out our 31-minute delivery guarantee anywhere in Metro Manila. And third, we ensure that all our employees are within 30 minutes from their place of work, supporting their health and wellness while minimizing store disruptions,” Gregorio said.
Concurrently, Shakey’s has also been continuously expanding its stores, opening more than 30 outlets in 2021, a move to ensure that the company is prepared for a reopening.
“We need to learn to live with this virus and do so responsibly. At Shakey’s, we are doing our part – implementing health and safety protocols while vaccinating and boosting our employees, but we are also looking to the future, one where this pandemic can become endemic. So, we will continue to fuel the growth of this business and expand our network to ensure that PIZZA comes out of this crisis better and stronger than ever,” Gregorio concluded.
