Schools as vaccination sites proof of failed gov’t response – national students’ group

MANILA, Philippines — The recent move of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to repurpose facilities of 17 universities and colleges in the country as vaccination sites was a reflection of the national government’s failed pandemic response, the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) said on Monday.

“While the establishment of more sites of vaccination may seem like good progress, digging deeper than the surface level reveals that schools having to offer their campuses and facilities for vaccination efforts to be carried out is a reflection of [President] Duterte’s failed pandemic response coupled with the decades-long neglect toward our health-care system,” Jandeil Roperos, NUSP president said in a statement.

Last week, the CHEd signed an agreement with the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines to expand the national government’s capacity to vaccinate more Filipinos.

17 schools as jab sites

A total of 17 schools nationwide offered their facilities to the government that would serve as additional inoculation sites, according to the agency.

Prospero de Vera III, CHEd chair, gave assurance to the public that the selected schools had been inspected by the agency, the local Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and local governments to ensure that the facilities were retrofitted to adhere to proper health measures.

“These HEIs (higher education institutions) also have big facilities like gymnasiums that can be used for vaccination. They have the necessary health personnel who can assist in the vaccination drive,” De Vera said.

“There is an urgency to proceed with this initiative because as we move from A1 to A4 then to B1 [in the vaccine priority list], the number of people that we need to vaccinate are going to be bigger in number especially when we go to indigents and essential workers,” he said.

“Our existing vaccination centers under the local government should expand to cover these groups and HEI facilities can be tapped,” he added.

More schools interested

De Vera said more HEIs had expressed their interest to become vaccination sites, explaining that the CHEd had also given its approval to these schools to conduct limited in-person classes for medical and allied health programs.

But the NUSP pointed out that President Duterte, the CHEd and HEIs should instead focus on fulfilling the requisites for the gradual and safe resumption of in-person classes rather than augmenting the government’s pandemic response.

The NUSP also slammed the Duterte administration for its “militaristic approach” in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, which it said was only made worse by such a response.

“If there were a medical instead of a militaristic approach to the pandemic, the adjustments by students and educators alike would not have taken place at the gravity it is occurring now,” Roperos said.

“Aside from health-care workers being overworked and underpaid amid the rising cases of COVID-19, the lack of structural investment—reflected in schools having to offer facilities as vaccination sites—should already prompt [Mr.] Duterte for an urgent health-oriented response,” she added. INQ