Six hundred employees of the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office already received their first dose of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines this week.

“Matagumpay na tumanggap ng first dose ng bakuna ang nasa 600 empleyado ng DepEd Central Office dahil narin sa pakikipagtulungan at pagsuporta ng lokal na pamahalaan ng Pasig sa kampanya ng Kagawaran kontra COVID-19 (About 600 employees of the DepEd Central Office successfully received the first dose of the vaccine due to the cooperation and support of the Pasig local government in the department's campaign against COVID-19),” the agency announced on Friday, July 2.

The first batch, composed of 300 DepEd Central Office employees, received their first dose on June 29. The second batch, also composed of 300 employees, were also vaccinated on June 30.

“Napakalahaga nito kasi dito sa Central office nanggagaling yung mga polisiya, mga pondo kaya kailangan protektahan natin yung ating mga empleyado at pamilya nila (This is very important because the policies, the funds come from the Central office so we need to protect our employees and their families),” DepEd Undersecretary for Human Resource and Organizational Development Jess Mateo said.

“Sa pagbibigay ng bakuna, makatulong din tayo sa kampanya na maresolba na itong pandemya natin (By providing the vaccine, we can also help the campaign to solve our pandemic), Mateo added.

Meanwhile, Mateo also commended the Pasig LGU for the very organized vaccine process. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto also visited the vaccination site where the DepEd employees received their COVID-19 shots.

“It has really been a difficult school year for everyone but we are doing everything we can to make sure that education of our youth will continue,” Sotto said, noting that vaccinating the education frontliners from DepEd will help ensure that the delivery of basic education services to millions of Filipino learners under the agency’s care will not be hampered.

Meanwhile, DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua underscored the importance of vaccinating all the personnel of DepEd since they are all considered education frontliners.

“Mahalaga ang pagbabakuna ng personnel and teachers sa iba’t-ibang paaralan kasi tayo ay nasa harap, mga education frontliners at tayo din ang humaharap sa mga magulang sa sa panahon ng pandemya (It is important to vaccinate personnel and teachers in various schools because we are at the forefront, the education frontliners and we are also the ones facing parents during the pandemic),” Pascua said.

Pascua noted that while there will be a little discomfort after getting the jab, he assured that this will be gone in a few days. “But the renewed confidence that we are protected and that we are safe from the virus that we cannot see will be worth it),” he said in Filipino.

For complete protection against COVID-19, Pascua strongly urged all those who received the first dose to comply with the two-dose regimen by getting their second dose based on their immunization schedule.

The vaccination of DepEd Central Office personnel is part of DepEd’s “Vacc2School” campaign launched in May which aims to campaign to boost the vaccination effort of the government.