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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House leader wants Covid-19 vaccination ramped up in schools amid 'disturbing' figures

House leader wants Covid-19 vaccination ramped up in schools amid 'disturbing' figures

Published Aug 24, 2022 09:23 am

The Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health (DOH), and the country’s local government units (LGUs) must work together to intensify the Covid-19 vaccination program in schools.

Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte


Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte made this call amid the recent return of face-to-face classes of Filipino schoolchildren over two years since the pandemic began.

Villafuerte, majority leader of the House contingent to the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA), cited "disturbing" reports that 22 million students and some 37,000 teachers returned to school this week without having been fully vaccinated against the deadly virus.

"I am appealing to LGU executives together with our education and health officials to act in concert on further ramping up the vax drive to make sure our schools do not become fertile grounds for possible superspreaders among our students and their parents and teachers,” Villafuerte said.

“This is something that we should not be taking lightly in the face of the lingering public health emergency,” he said, reacting to data that only one in five students in basic education is fully vaccinated.

“Alongside providing the necessary assistance to public and private schools for the start of face-to-face and online teaching and learning modalities, local executives should team up with the DepEd, DOH and DILG (Department of Interior and local government) in setting up school-based vax centers for primary and booster shots against the coronavirus ASAP," he stressed.

The newly-installed National Unity Party (NUP) president said this would give students, parents, and teacher added protection from future Covid-19 surges.

Villafuerte said this united action is the appropriate response from LGU officials and national government agencies to support the recent appeal from President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for the public, particularly students, to complete their primary jabs or booster shots against Covid-19 so they would have better protection against the pandemic with the resumption of classes.

Latest DepEd data showed that some 27.167 million students have enrolled as of last week, or 96 percent of the target 28.6 million enrollees in both private and public schools this school year.

Related Tags

deped FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES 82422 covid-19 vaccination NUP Ramp up lray villafuerte doh
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