A total of 33,000 police personnel have already been inoculated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines nationwide, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said on Monday.
“Sa atin (Among us), as of today we have so far 32,998. So i-eksakto natin, 33,000 na, baka may nadagdagan na dalawa na naturukan na kanina (Let’s make it exact, it’s already 33,000. There may be two more personnel who could be inoculated earlier), 33,000 or 15 percent of our 220,000 personnel na nabakunahan na (were already vaccinated)” Eleazar said in a press conference in Camp Crame.
Eleazar said they have already requested additional vaccine doses to speed up their vaccination drive.
“With the millions of vaccines now arriving, I think we are nearing the time when we will be able to vaccinate a bulk of our personnel,” said Eleazar, who got his first dose of the Sinovac jab last June 15 for the police force’s A4 priority group.
The PNP chief is scheduled to receive his second dose on July 23.
Based on the rules, A1 (medical front-liners) should be the first to be vaccinated, followed by A2 (senior citizens) and A3 (persons with comorbidities). The A4 category includes essential front-liners and uniformed personnel while A5 covers indigent Filipinos.
Eleazar said more police personnel now want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 based on their latest survey.
“Based on our survey, it is now 93.12 percent, konti na lang ang ayaw (Only a few do not want to be vaccinated). We hope to convince the remaining 7 percent as the vaccines have yet to arrive. I think if the majority of cops get vaccinated, those who do not want may change their minds. We will not force them but we can influence them with what we are doing right now,” he stressed.
As of Monday, another 57 police officers have recovered from Covid-19, bringing the police force’s recovery count to 25,761.
The PNP also recorded 78 new cases, raising its active case tally to 1,788 out of a total of 27,622 cases since the pandemic started in March last year.
A total of 73 police officers have succumbed to the disease. (PNA)
