Over 50,000 uniformed personnel to be dispatched in vaccination sites as economic frontliners get jabs in June
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday said more than 50,000 police and fire personnel will be deployed in different vaccination sites as the national government is set to start the vaccination of individuals under the A4 category or the economic frontliners in June.
Año said the deployment and presence of DILG’s uniformed personnel will ensure the smooth rollout of vaccines in the country as it begins mass vaccination efforts with the expected arrival of some 16 million vaccines in the next two months.
Of the total, 35,415 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will provide security during the transport of vaccines nationwide while 13,840 PNP personnel will be tasked with securing various vaccination areas in the country while the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has mobilized 2,390 fire personnel and 356 emergency medical service units (EMS) in 1,150 identified warehouse or cold storage and vaccination sites nationwide. It has also prepositioned 733 fire trucks and 59 ambulances.
“Mass vaccination will be a big challenge to the government but with the help of our uniformed personnel, we aim to get as many of our countrymen and women vaccinated as efficiently and as soon as possible. This is the only way for us to put an end to this pandemic,” he said.
Año said the uniformed personnel are not only directed to maintain minimum public health standards (MPHS) in vaccination sites but will also serve as vaccinators or perform their tasks in the vaccination centers as required by the LGUs and the Department of Health (DOH).
“Our DILG uniformed personnel will not only secure the vaccines but those with medical backgrounds will also be assigned to do medical tasks in our vaccination sites all over the country,” he said.
To ensure the safety and health of the uniformed personnel to be deployed, Año said both the PNP and the BFP have continued their respective internal vaccination efforts.
As of May 24, a total of 14,082 PNP medical front-liners have been inoculated with their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 8,416 of personnel have received their second dose. Meanwhile, 6,298 BFP personnel have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2,298 of them have received their second dose.
In addition, 8,936 personnel from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) nationwide have also been inoculated with their first dose, while 3,750 have received their second dose.
Last May 18, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. announced that the government is including the A4 cluster of the priority population group in the national vaccine rollout and will start by next month.
Included in the A4 group are uniformed personnel as they are considered as essential workers. Ella Dionisio/DMS
