Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. emphasized Wednesday, Oct. 13, the immediate need to vaccinate all the students, teachers, and other school personnel against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) if the national government intends to pursue the conduct of face-to-face classes.
"Napakaimportante po ng ating pagbabakuna dahil once na hindi nabakunahan ang ating mga estudyante, ang mga guro, mga personnel ay titigil po ang ating pag-aaral. Sinasabi ng maraming experts sa United States at Israel na napakalaki ng ramifications o hindi magandang consequences (Our vaccination program is very important because if our students, teachers, and chool personnel are not vaccinated, schools will have to stop. Many experts from the United States and Israel that this would result to very bad ramifications or consequences)," he said at the launch of the "Padyak Para sa Flexible Learning: Sama-Samang Vaccination Program" at the Mabalacat City College in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
The vaccination program intends to vaccinate tertiary students and school personnel against the viral illness.
Galvez said keeping the students at home will affect their learning methods and mental health since they are confined in the four corners of their houses instead of personally interacting with their classmates, peers, and teachers.
"Hindi po natin pwede ikulong ang mga bata na almost two years na. Mayroon na pong epekto ito sa mental health. Marami na po kami nakausap na mga eksperto, marami pong mga bata ang mayroong suicidal tendencies (We cannot confine our children for almost two years. This will have affect their mental health. We have talked to many experts who said that many kids have already developed suicidal tendencies)," he said.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), suicide incidents increased by 25.7 percent in 2020. There were 3,529 cases of self-harm in 2020 while there were 2,808 cases in 2019.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted in September 2020 that there was a signifcant increase in the number of monthly hotline calls in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with most calls related to depression. The number rose from 80 calls before the lockdown to nearly 400 at the start of the lockdown.
On a global scale, the WHO said the most vulnerable population to suffer from depression, which is one of the primary contributors to suicide incidents, are teenagers as young as 15 up to adults aged 29.
Furthermore, Galvez said that the vaccination of the students, teachers, and other school personnel will help sustain the country's "competitive advantage" with other countries.
"Importante na ma-vaccinate natin ang ating mga teachers para ma-mentain natin ang ating competitive advantage with other countries. Kasi nakikita natin na tayo ang nagbibigay ng sigla at human resource sa lahat ng bagay, from engineering to medical or even commerical and also teachers (It is important to vaccinate our teachers to maintain our competitive advantage with other countries. We provide the energy and human resource, from engineering to medical or even commercial and also teachers)," he said.
The vaccination of students and shool personnel was launched ahead of the pilot implementation of the vaccination of children and teenagers aged 12 to 17 on Oct 15.
Galvez hopes that the addition of more sectors in the priority list of vaccinees will help speed up the vaccination program.
So far, the country has breached the 50 millionth mark in thr number of administered COVID-19 jabs.
As of Oct. 12, there were 50,475,955 doses that have been administered nationwide.
More than 26.9 million individuals have recieved their first dose while 23.5 million have been fully vaccinated.