A senior lawmaker is pressing local government units (LGUs) along with the Departments of Education (DepEd) and of Health (DOH) to work in unison in further ramping up the Covid-19 vaccination program in schools, following this week’s reopening of in-person classes in light of unsettling official reports that more than 22 million students and teachers have yet to get their full or partial anti-coronavirus shots.
Given the August 22 opening of school year 2022-2023 with partial face-to-face (F-to-F) classes, Camarines Sur Rep. and National Unity Party (NUP) President LRay Villafuerte said local executives plus education and health officials need to dial up a notch the vaccination drive in schools amid official reports that about 22 million students and some 37,000 of their teachers are believed to have returned to school this week without having been fully vaccinated against the deadly virus.
“Amid the higher Covid-19 caseload ahead of Monday’s opening of school year 2022-23 with a combination of face-to-face and online classes, 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 warned.
The former CamSur governor earlier called on LGU executives to work closely with the DepEd, DOH and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in putting up anti-Covid 19 vaccine centers in schools in their respective localities, in support of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s appeal for all concerned sectors to ensure the safe return of students and their teachers to F-to-F classes.