A total of 313 Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel from Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and island provinces of Southern Tagalog were inoculated against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccines on Tuesday, June 15.
BJMP chief jail Director Allan Iral said the vaccination was done after they received the supply from the national government for their medical personnel and those at the frontline services in jail units.
In his message, Iral cited the continuing efforts of the BJMP to strictly implement the health protocols in the jail facilities.
“Binago man ng COVID19 ang araw araw nating pamumuhay, hindi naman nito binago ang sigasig ng bawat isa (BJMP personnel (na tuparin ang tungkulin na paglingkuran ang ating mga kababayan lalo na ang ating mga kapatid na nasa kulungan (Even if COVID-19 changed our everyday lives, this did not deter everyone to fulfill their duties to serve the public especially to our incarcerated brothers),’’ Iral said.
On June 14, 313 doses of Sinovac vaccine were delivered from the National Vaccination Operations Center to the BJMP National Headquarters for the vaccination activity.
“The donated Sinovac vaccine is the same vaccine to 6,829 BJMP personnel who already had their first and second doses in the previous months in line with the Jail Bureau's campaign “Magkaisa Para sa Bakuna Laban sa Pandemya", to urge all 16, 857 BJMP personnel nationwide to get vaccinated while strictly following health protocols,’’ the BJMP statement read.
Dr. Elmer Punzalan, Field Implementation and Coordination Team of the Department of Health (DOH) reiterated the importance of having the vaccine and urged everyone to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
As of June 14, 2021, a total of 9,791 BJMP personnel had their first dose and 6,592 second dose of Sinovac, Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
The BJMP noted that 1,631 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) who are senior citizens and with comorbidities were already vaccinated with support from their respective LGUs.