An advocacy group expressed its dismay over the alleged inaction of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health (DOH) on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination of prisoners.
“The DOH and DOJ told us that prisoners will get their turn under the B-9 category, but we’ve been waiting for months now while many groups get elevated into the A priority ranking under new categories,” Kapatid said through Spokesperson Fides Lim.
Lim cited that only the local government of Bocaue in Bulacan has, so far, has done the vaccination of prisoners.
“If the local government unit of Bocaue in Bulacan can inoculate its prisoners, the national government has no reason to continuously turn its back on our call to also prioritize the teeming prison population, who are in fact wards of the state,” Lim said.
Lim said the government should start with the elderly and sickly prisoners who are most at risk with COVID-19 infections.