Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar is offering police camps and other facilities for the vaccination of the 12-17 years old population, particularly children and other minor dependents of the personnel of the police organization.
The national government, through the National Task Force Against COVID-19 headed by Sec. Carlito Galvez who is also the country’s vaccine czar, is now preparing for the vaccination of the 12-17-year-old Filipinos amid the continuous arrival of vaccines against the coronavirus.
“Ngayong halos patapos na ang vaccination sa aming hanay, inatasan ko na ang aming Administrative Support for COVID-19 Task Force sa pamumuno ni Lt. Gen. Joselito Vera Cruz na maghanda sa pamamagitan ng pag-umpisa ng paglilista ng mga 12-17 years old dependents ng aming uniformed at civilian personnel,” Eleazar said.
“This will be in preparation for the expansion of the government’s vaccination program for minors in order to have as many Filipinos protected from the COVID-19,” he added.
Based on the PNP-ASCOTF data, more than 131,000 PNP personnel have already been fully vaccinated while more than 80,000 others have already received their first dose. Only 1,554 out of 222,711 or 0.7% are yet to be vaccinated as of our online continuing survey
The PNP chief also said that they are intending to vaccinate the entire PNP personnel before the end of this year.
On the other hand, the national government is already preparing for the inoculation of the 12-17 years old population amid calls for the resumption of face-to-face classes as part of the gradual normalization process.
The Chief PNP explained that using police camps and other facilities at least for children and other dependents of the PNP personnel would also be a form of assistance to the Local Government Units in ensuring the safety of the children in vaccination sites as it would decongest these sites once the vaccination for 12-17 years old population starts.
“Makikipag-ugnayan ang inyong PNP sa NTF Against COVID-19 at sa Department of Health na gawing vaccination sites ang aming mga kampo para sa 12-17 years old dependents ng aming mga personnel upang maiwasan ang pagdagsa ng mga menor de edad sa vaccination sites ng ating mga LGUs kapag nag-umpisa na ang pagbakuna sa kanila,” Eleazar said.
The PNP has been cited for both the successful efforts in convincing its personnel to be vaccinated and in the rollout of the vaccination for its uniformed and civilian personnel.
Through the aggressive information dissemination initiated starting February this year when Eleazar was still the PNP-ASCOTF commander, the number of PNP personnel who signified intention to be vaccinated ballooned to 99.3% from 51%. (PNP-PIO) – bny
