17 colleges, universities offer facilities as vaccination centers

MANILA, Philippines — At least 17 colleges and universities throughout the country have offered their facilities as additional vaccination centers in their respective localities.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) signed a cooperation agreement with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) to enable closer cooperation between higher education institutions (HEIs) and local government units (LGUs) in addressing the pandemic.

The establishment of vaccination centers in school properties to support the country’s battle against COVID-19 is among the cooperation points of the agreement.

Offering their facilities as vaccination centers are the Our Lady of Fatima University campuses in Valenzuela, Quezon City and Pampanga; Manila Central University in Caloocan City; University of Perpetual Help System Dalta in Las Pinas City and its Medical University in Biñan; St. Louis University in Baguio; University of Baguio and the Benguet State University.

The same goes for De La Salle University in Dasmarin?as; De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute; Central Philippine University in Iloilo City; West Visayas State University; University of Cebu; Notre Dame Kidapawan College; North Valley College Foundation and the Cotabato Medical Foundation.

Many of these HEIs have already been approved to conduct limited face-to-face classes for some subjects in medical and allied health programs.

CHED chairman J. Prospero De Vera III said these institutions have been inspected by CHED, LGUs and the local Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to ensure that the proper health protocols, retrofitting of facilities and requirements for safety are being implemented.

He said more public and private HEIs have signified their interest to be vaccination sites.

“These HEIs also have big facilities like gymnasiums that can be used for vaccination. They have the necessary health personnel who can assist in the vaccination drive,” De Vera said.

“There is an urgency to proceed with this initiative because as we move from A1 to A4 and then to B1, the number of people that we need to vaccinate is going to be bigger in number, especially when we go to indigents and essential workers. Our existing vaccination centers under the local government should expand to cover these groups and HEI facilities can be tapped,” he added.

In a joint statement, De Vera and ULAP national president and Quirino Gov. Dakila Cua committed to be strategic partners for resiliency, rehabilitation and national recovery in the fight against COVID-19.

They also vowed to continuously explore mechanisms and modalities of cooperation, including sharing knowledge and resources for the establishment of vaccination sites.