UP offers jabs to graduate students in case in-person classes resume

WAITING TO REOPEN The state university is the latest major school in Metro Manila to draw up an inoculation plan particularly for students in case the return of in-person classes finally gets a go-signal from President Duterte. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines (UP) flagship campus in Diliman, Quezon City, announced that it will offer vaccination slots for graduating students who would have to be physically present to fulfill their academic requirements in case face-to-face classes are allowed for the current school year.

In a memorandum issued on Tuesday, UP vice chancellor for academic affairs Theresa Payongayong said the campus had sought permission from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to conduct limited in-person classes for selected courses.

“As a support to our students, the UPD Covid-19 Task Force is offering interested students a vaccination slot in its Bakunahan sa Diliman (program),” the vice chancellor said. “Due to the limited number of available vaccines, only graduating students who will participate in F2F classes or activities from your academic unit may be accommodated now.”

Eligible

For now, only 400 of over 25,000 UP Diliman students—or less than 2 percent of the entire student body—are eligible for this program, subject to health protocols. If approved, it would cover students from archaeological, music and art studies, several engineering and science courses and home economics courses.

Most of them are graduate students who will have to do comprehensive examinations, theses or dissertations, fieldwork, internship and studio performances.

At present, an ad hoc committee is still finalizing the guidelines for the gradual reopening of classes in the country’s premier state university. However, Payongayong said it was “highly encouraged for participating students of face-to-face classes or activities to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.”

Ateneo, DLSU, UST

Most major universities in Manila have similar vaccination programs for its teachers, students and staff, while they wait for the approval of limited face-to-face classes.

In May this year, Ateneo de Manila University also announced a vaccination program using the 18,000 doses the university had ordered. It did not specify the brand that was procured.

Doses were allotted and subsidized for full-time, part-time and project employees. University students, meanwhile, were third in line in the university’s prioritization schedule and they have to pay for the vaccine.

In June, De La Salle University (DLSU) also offered a similar program for its students, offering P2,850 for two doses of Novavax. They also encouraged eligible students to get their shots from their local governments.

“Vaccine effectiveness studies provide significant evidence of their ability to protect against contracting, spreading and suffering severe illness from COVID-19. We are confident this is the best course of action for La Salle University,” DLSU said in a statement.

“It will put us on course to return to the on-campus experience to which we’re all accustomed, whether we are sharing space in classrooms, laboratories, residence and dining halls, office spaces, fitness centers, or elsewhere,’’ it said.

The University of Santo Tomas (UST), in partnership with the Manila city government, also offered its students a chance to get inoculated through the city government’s vaccination program.

Calls to reopen

Members of Congress have been pressing the Department of Education (DepEd) to allow limited in-person classes in low-risk areas, after a United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report pointed out that the Philippines was among the last five countries in the world that have yet to reopen schools since the pandemic started.

The CHEd has authorized limited in-person classes in medical and allied health science courses in 118 universities nationwide since January 2021.

The DepEd said it had identified 100 public schools for a two-month pilot test for physical classes starting this month pending an approval from President Rodrigo Duterte.