A college student gets vaccinated against COVID-19 at the Tarlac State University’s gymnasium. (Photo courtesy of the Tarlac City Information Office)
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 87.44 percent of faculty members of higher education institutions (HEIs) and 63.04 percent of tertiary students have already been vaccinated against COVID-19, Chair Prospero de Vera III of the Commission on Higher Education said in the taped weekly “Talk to the People” with President Rodrigo Duterte that aired on Monday.
The figures he cited were as of Jan. 13.
In absolute figures, this means that 259,159 individuals have been vaccinated out of the 296,400 teaching and non-teaching staff in HEIs nationwide.
According to De Vera, 96 percent of these have been fully vaccinated and only 4 percent are partially vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the vaccination rate for tertiary students also increased to 63.04 percent, which accounts for 2,610,933 out of 4,141,827 tertiary students in the country.
De Vera noted that 76 percent were fully vaccinated and 24 percent were partially vaccinated.
“Our school-based vaccination will continue. The focus now is on the boosters for those who have completed their vaccination,” De Vera said in Filipino. “So we are close to reaching the number required to increase the safety of the students.”