SINCE President Rodrigo Duterte already approved the inoculation of the general public, including minors starting next month, Philippine National Police (PNP) police offices and units were told to provide assistance to the mentioned sectors during the vaccination.
“I have already instructed our police to prepare for the general public’s and minors’ vaccination next month. In this situation where many will be vaccinated, the service of the police will be much needed to ensure order at the vaccination areas,” according to PNP Chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar.
“Providing assistance during a vaccination rollout is not anymore new to the police. I trust that they already know what to do to ensure that minimum health standards in vaccination sites are followed,” he added.
PGen. Eleazar said the they are continuously conducting accounting of PNP personnel who have medical background to assist in the vaccination of the general population.
The Chief PNP earlier committed the PNP’s Medical Reserve Force to assist in taking care of COVID patients due to shortage of medical facilities and health workers amid the continuous rise of cases of infection.
He also offered police camps and other facilities for the vaccination of the dependents of the PNP personnel, particularly those between 12 to 17 years old, in order to decongest the vaccination sites of the local government units (LGUs).
PGen. Eleazar also directed police offices to coordinate with LGUs regarding the schedule and if there will be adjustments during the vaccination of the general population.
Further, the Chief PNP also urged police officers to help in the continuing efforts to educate the public about the benefit and importance of COVID-19 vaccines.
“There are still Filipinos who are not yet open about vaccination. We hope to be instruments that will hopefully encourage them to be protected against the deadly COVID-19,” PGen Eleazar said.
The President had said the normalcy in the country may return after two to three years.
So far, over 20 million Filipinos are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19.