CHED: UPLB okay agreed to use its gymnasium as vaccination center

The University of thee Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has agreed to use its facilities as a COVID-19 vaccination center.

In a statement, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said the UPLB administration has met the local government units’ officials of Los Baños and Bay, Laguna to offer the campus’ gymnasium as an additional vaccination center.

The meeting was held after CHED and the Union of the Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) issued a joint statement calling for partnerships to help the government in its COVID-19 recovery.

“We  responded to CHED’s commitment with the Union of Local Authorities of the  Philippines (ULAP) to have the facilities of higher education institutions (HEIs) as  vaccination centers for the country’s expanded immunization program. UPLB, through the guidance of our UP President Danilo Concepcion, was very supportive of the initiative,” UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr. was quoted in the statement issued Wednesday.

So far, UPLB personnel and residents of the said municipalities, who belong to the A1 and A2 categories in the vaccine prioritization list, got their first dose inside the campus.

UPLB also tapped its medical professionals and support staff to assist the vaccination of more residents.

Meanwhile, CHED chairman Prospero De Vera III lauded UPLB for facilitating the vaccination of its personnel, noting this will give protection to its staff members who provide essential education services.

De Vera said higher education institutions’ personnel should be also be prioritized in the vaccination program as they are needed in processing the documents of students who will continue their studies or those who will graduate.

“The inclusion of the UPLB campus as additional vaccination center will also ensure that with the arrival of additional vaccines in the coming months to cover the UPLB skeletal workforce under A4, our education frontliners will be assured of their vaccination and there will be no delay in the processing of the documents of students who will continue their studies or look for work,” he added.

Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases approved the list of sectors included in the Priority Group A4 of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan.

The complete list of Priority Group A4 is as follows:

• commuter transport (land, air, and sea), including logistics
• public and private wet and dry market vendors
• frontline workers in groceries, supermarkets, delivery services
• workers in manufacturing for food, beverage, medical and pharmaceutical products
• frontline workers in food retail, including food service delivery
• frontline workers in private and government financial services
• frontline workers in hotels and accommodation establishments
• priests, rabbis, imams, and other religious leaders
• security guards/ personnel assigned in offices, agencies, and organizations identified in the list of priority industries/sectors
• frontline workers in private and government news media
• customer-facing personnel of telecoms, cable and internet service providers, electricity distribution and water distribution utilities
• frontline personnel in basic education and higher education institutions and agencies
• overseas Filipino workers, including those scheduled for deployment within two months
• frontline workers in law/justice, security, and social protection sectors
• frontline government workers engaged in the operations of government transport system, quarantine inspection; worker safety inspection and other COVID-19 response activities
• frontline government workers in charge of tax collection, assessment of businesses for incentives, election, national ID, data collection personnel
• diplomatic community and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) personnel in consular operations
• Department of Public Works and Highways personnel in charge of monitoring government infrastructure projects

So far, the government is vaccinating the health workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News