The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is eyeing the inclusion of students in the government's vaccination priority list against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In an interview over DZBB on Sunday, July 4, CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera hopes the plan would push through so more universities and programs would be allowed to conduct limited face-to-face classes.

“We are pushing to vaccinate faculty members and students of schools who are already conducting limited face-to-face classes. So every layer of protection that is put in, the risk decreases,” De Vera said.

“And once we see that everything is going smoothly, I’ll go to President Duterte himself to tell him that our limited face-to-face classes are brining good results, so maybe we can open additional courses soon,” he added.

De Vera cited the University of the Philippines College of Medicine that started with their limited physical classes last December and the Our Lady of Fatima University that began their face-to-face classes middle January, both, according to the CHED Chair, have so far recorded “zero transmission.”

“It means that if their facilities have been retrofitted well at the implementation of the guidelines of CHED and the Department of Health is really good, we can lower the risk level for students,” he concluded.

De Vera added that CHED is also eyeing to expand limited face-to-face classes to other degree programs that require hands-on activities such as engineering, information technology, maritime programs, veterinary medicine, and industrial technology.

As of July 4, at least 93 higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the country have been issued with authority to conduct limited face-to-face classes.