Education Secretary Leonor Briones is hoping to continuously expand the implementation of limited face-to-face classes as more Filipinos are vaccinated with the success of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Days.
The government was able to administer a total of 10,254,560 COVID-19 vaccines nationwide in the five-day vaccination drive from November 29 to December 3 and even recorded its highest five-level average since March 2021 with the daily jab rate reaching 2.05 million in the past week.
“Ang success ng education is very dependent on the health of our children and we need to protect our children.”
“Kaya kami ay tuwang-tuwa and it’s a great honor for us to work with Secretary Duque and Secretary Galvez and Vince [Dizon] sa kampanyang ito kasi ang success ng education is very dependent on the health of our children and we need to protect our children hindi lamang iyong 12-17 years old na mga bata, pero lahat including the parents themselves,” Briones said during the Bayanihan, Bakunahan Culminating Activity recently.
“Malaki ang aming interest na mag-open ng face-to-face hindi lamang sa mga lugar na walang masyadong tao kundi sa mga urban areas. We’re thinking largely of NCR, also of Region IV-A, and the large cities na napakaraming mga bata naka-concentrate doon,” the education chief added.
The education head highly encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated as the resumption of face-to-face classes relies on the outcome of the immunization campaign.
“Siguro makausad na tayo by 2022 by end December.”
“So iyong ating pag-asa ng bayan, siguro makausad na tayo by 2022 by end December, tatapusin na natin itong pilot and talagang i-implement na natin ang tunay na polisiya para sa edukasyon, blended learning, kombinasyon ng digital learning at saka face-to-face at bigyan natin ang mga bata ng pagkakataon na makakita din sila ng iba pang mga bata,” she said.
Meanwhile, National Task Force Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. noted that 32% or 6.5 million of the 8,900,078 who were vaccinated in the first three days of the simultaneous immunization campaign are from the youth population aged 12 to 17 years old.
“Matagumpay nating naisagawa ang national vaccination days dahil sa tulong, suporta, at pakikiisa ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino. Sa ating pong patuloy na pagbabayanihan, 39.57 of almost 40 million na Pilipino ang fully vaccinated na. Samantalang 57.64 million ang kabuuang bilang ng nabakunahan na sa napakalaking naidulot ng national vaccination days sa ating pagpapalawig sa vaccination program sa buong bansa,” Galvez said.
He also hoped to reach the country’s first vaccination milestone of having 54 million or more Filipinos be fully vaccinated before the end of the year to bring a happier and safer Christmas and New Year.
During his recent Talk to the People, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the second round of the “Bayanihan, Bakunahan” to be conducted this December 20 to 22.
