Eleazar: 78% of PNP personnel willing to be vaccinated vs. COVID-19

Seventy-eight percent of the 218,000-strong police force have expressed their willingness to be inoculated against COVID-19, according to Police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar on Friday.

"As of now, 78% of all the PNP personnel are willing to be vaccinated," Eleazar, Philippine National Police's deputy chief for administration, told reporters.

So far, more than 800 PNP medical frontliners were already vaccinated against the disease using the Sinovac vaccine. The allocation of Sinovac vaccines for PNP is now at 1,200.

In a separate interview on Super Radyo dzBB, PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Ildebrandi Usana said they are expecting more personnel to register for vaccination.

“So we are so fortunate na itong bilang ng mga kapulisan ay umakyat pa mula sa bilang ng 70 percent, hanggang naging 75, at ngayon ay almost 80 percent na rin po,” Usana said.

“At kami naman po ay naga-anticipate dahil nakita po ng ating mga kapulisan base po sa information dissemination na naisagawa ng ating mga pamunuan, nakita na po nila ‘yung mga importansya nitong pagbabakuna,” he added.

A total of 11,613 PNP personnel have tested positive for COVID-19, of which 11,037 have recovered and 31 have died. There are 545 active cases.

The PNP said those prioritized in the vaccination within the organization were its medical officers and healthcare frontliners, personnel who will be assigned to assist the Department of Health in administering the vaccine, and the members of the PNP Medical Reserve Force.

The doctors who were assigned at the PNP General Hospital, quarantine facilities, and emergency treatment for the organization are also on the priority list, according to PNP chief Police General Debold Sinas. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News