55 Central Luzon cops waive right to get vaccinated vs COVID-19

Police officers listen to Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay, director of the Police Regional Office 3, who visited the Tarlac Police provincial office Tuesday, Dec. 7. | Photo courtesy of PRO3

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga––At least 55 of the 15,639 police officers in Central Luzon have waived their right to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) Health Service disclosed on Tuesday, Dec. 7.

While the health service did not say why the 55 police officers refused vaccination, the PRO3 Public Information Office said pregnancy and religious beliefs were the common reasons for not getting vaccinated against the viral disease.

Lt. Col. Soledad Elefanio, PRO3 public information officer, earlier told the Inquirer that pregnant policewomen feared that the vaccination might cause adverse effects to their physical condition and others said their religions did not permit vaccination.

Some 14,942 police officers under the PRO3 and regional support units comprising 95.5 percent of the total force are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 642 were still waiting for their second dose of the vaccines.

The Philippine National Police announced over the weekend that unvaccinated police officers would not be deployed for fieldwork and would just be given desk jobs.

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