MANILA, Philippines—The vaccination of inmates in Philippines jails still has a long way to go.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) spokesperson Chief Insp. Xavier Solda said at an online press briefing on Monday (Aug. 30) that 10,939 prisoners out of a jail population of 119,692 had been fully vaccinated.
At least 16,380 inmates had their first dose, while 4,259 inmates had their second dose and those who got single dose vaccines reached 6,680.
“The number of prisoners without vaccines is still high,” Solda said in Filipino.
He said the BJMP’s vaccine rollout was dependent on the National Vaccination Operations Center of the Department of Health although local government units (LGU) helped a lot.
He cited as an example the cases of Bocaue Municipal Jail and Bataan District. He said all inmates in the two detention facilities had already been vaccinated “and that is through the efforts of their LGUs.”
He said if LGUs would continue to extend their vaccination programs to inmates in city and municipal jails, “that’s a big deal for the BJMP.”
Solda said there are currently 99 active COVID cases in Philippine jails, with a total of 4,235 cases. Forty-one have died of COVID-19, which has still no known cure.