PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar offered their camps and other facilities for the vaccination of 12 to 17 years old, specifically children and other minor dependents of police officers and men.

The national government through the National Task Force Against COVID-19 headed by Secretary Carlito Galvez said it is now preparing for the vaccination of the 12-17 year old Filipinos amid the continuous arrival of vaccines against COVID-19.

“Ngayong halos patapos na ang vaccination sa aming hanay, inatasan ko na ang aming Administrative Support for COVID-19 Task Force sa pamumuno ni Lieutenant 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,” Gen. 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 percent are yet to be vaccinated as of our online continuing survey Gen. Eleazar said 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 12-17 years old population amid calls for the resumption of face-to-face classes as part of the gradual normalization process.

The PNP chief 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,” said Gen. Eleazar.

The PNP has been cited for both of the successful efforts in convincing its personnel to be vaccinated and in the roll out of the vaccination for its uniformed and civilian personnel.

Through the aggressive information dissemination initiated by Gen. Eleazar when he was still the PNP-ASCOTF commander, the number of PNP personnel who signified intention to be vaccinated ballooned to 99.3 percent from 51 percent.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon