As majority of teachers await their COVID-19 vaccination, a group of educators today urged the government to also provide teachers with free flu and pneumonia vaccines.
“Pending the COVID-19 vaccination of most of our teachers, bigyan sana natin sila ng libre o subsidized na flu and pneumonia vaccines,” Philippine Educators Alliance for Community Empowerment (PEACE) Party-list President Marie Paz T. Abante said.
Abante called on the government to tap unused funds for flu and pneumonia vaccine procurement for this year.
These vaccines could provide added protection against illness for “our overworked, overstressed, and under-rested teachers and school staff,” Abante said.
The Department of Health last year recommended the use of flu and pneumonia vaccines to prevent additional complications from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rontgene Solante, an infectious disease expert and a member of the Department of Science and Technology’s Vaccine Expert Panel, recently said that people who have had their COVID-19 vaccines could avail of flu and pneumonia shots “anytime or a week after” their first dose or second dose regardless of the vaccine brand.
“Given the demands placed on our teachers and other school staff during the recent school year and transitioning to the new one, they are very vulnerable to these illnesses, and in fact, we have reported cases of teachers getting sick because of the unmanageable workload,” Abante said.
She called on the government to tap unused funds for flu and pneumonia vaccine procurement for this year.
“These vaccines could provide added protection against illness for “our overworked, overstressed, and under-rested teachers and school staff.”
PEACE Party-list’s chairman for its Committee on Community Programs, Bishop Rodolfo Juan, meanwhile, called for the expansion of the coverage of the National Immunization Program to include teachers and school workers.
“Baka maaaring amyendahan ng ating mga mambabatas ang budget para sa immunization nang maisama ang mga guro at iba pang school staff,” Juan said.
The proposed 2022 budget for the NIP, which is included in the Family Health Sub-Program, is P10.77 billion.
