MANILA, Philippines — Some 791,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel could be vaccinated against the COVID-19 starting June, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Monday.
This, after they were moved up to government's vaccine priority list to A4 from B1.
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"This is a huge jump for teachers and this is very good news," Briones said in Filipino at a Palace briefing. "Perhaps this will start in June. Enrollment and other activities will also start by that time."
There were initially 1.2 million people on the agency's list, but the education chief said this was reduced after personnel who are senior citizens or who have comorbidities were vaccinated by local governments.
She added that registration would no longer be needed as DepEd has its own list of those up for vaccination.
The coronavirus task force's move also covers teaching and support staff in higher educational institutions or colleges and universities.
The lack of vaccines was a crucial factor in President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to reject proposals to resume in-person classes.
Even the administration has admitted that the distance learning setup is far from ideal, with difficulties prevailing for teachers and students.
Malacañang has said that the president may consider allowing the return to schools by August, or when the country's inoculation efforts are already underway.
Earlier Monday, the Department of Health said more than 191,000 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated for the COVID-19, with 1.26 million who received their first dose so far.
The country has received 3.026 million doses of COVID-19 jabs, but it has only made a single direct purchase so far for China's Sinovac.