Over 90% of Pasig City’s DepEd staff vaccinated vs COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — At least 90 percent of teaching and non-teaching staff of the Department of Education (DepEd) Pasig City Division office have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Mayor Vico Sotto said Wednesday.

In a post on Facebook, Sotto said that 4,015 of the 4,273 teaching and non-teaching members of the Deped Pasig City office have been immunized against the deadly disease.

“GOOD NEWS: Nakapag first dose na ang karamihan sa mga guro ng Pasig. (4,015 out of 4,273 teaching & non-teaching staff under the Deped Pasig City Division),” Sotto said.

This is aside from DepEd personnel from the Central Office — which is also located in Pasig City — who were also vaccinated on Wednesday.

“Binabakunahan na rin natin ang mga personnel ng DepEd Central Office (kaninang umaga yung schedule ng pangalawang batch nila sa Megaworld/Arcovia Vacc Site),” Sotto added.

https://www.facebook.com/VicoSotto/posts/4239338576124788

In a separate post, DepEd said on its official Twitter page that Sotto and Undersecretary Jesus Mateo visited the vaccination site where around 300 employees of the DepEd Central Office got their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Bumisita sina Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto at DepEd Usec. Jesus Mateo sa vaccination site kung saan kasalukuyang isinasagawa ang pagbabakuna sa pangalawang batch ng 300 empleyado ng DepEd Central Office,” DepEd said.

“Kasama rin sina Dir. Lope Santos at Dir. Armando Ruiz sa nasabing pagbisita,” it added.

Bumisita sina Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto at DepEd Usec. Jesus Mateo sa vaccination site kung saan kasalukuyang isinasagawa ang pagbabakuna sa pangalawang batch ng 300 empleyado ng DepEd Central Office.

Kasama rin sina Dir. Lope Santos at Dir. Armando Ruiz sa nasabing pagbisita. pic.twitter.com/ccCYr3vZHJ

— DepEd (@DepEd_PH) June 30, 2021

The Philippines is relying heavily on COVID-19 vaccines to usher in herd immunity — which authorities believe would be key to resuming normalcy and restarting the economy before the year ends.

However, such efforts are being challenged by low vaccine confidence among Filipinos. In November last year, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that only 66 percent of Filipinos have expressed willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19, should vaccines become available.

This number, the survey said, decreased further in a recent poll that showed only 32 percent of the respondents are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

READ: SWS: Just half of Filipinos trust gov’t COVID vaccination program

However, the latest figures seem to pick up because more Filipinos have flocked to vaccination centers to get jabbed. On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) announced that a record 1.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered last week driving the total number of doses given to 10,065,414 as of June 27 — of which 2.527 million are fully vaccinated.

Also, DOH figures showed encouraging numbers about the protection that vaccines bring: latest reports indicate out of 2.1 million fully vaccinated individuals, only 68 got infected with the coronavirus. And despite being infected, all 68 cases showed only mild symptoms.

READ: PH administers record high 1.6M COVID-19 vaccine doses in a week

READ: After full vaccination, 68 out of 2.1 million get mild COVID, no deaths recorded

Several health experts and civil society groups have encouraged the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially with the persistent threat of different COVID-19  variants. On June 23, the Commission on Human Rights urged Filipinos to get vaccinated to avoid the resurgence of cases notably amid the latest SARS-CoV-2 mutation: the Delta variant.