The Police Regional Office (PRO) in Soccsksargen (Region 12) is targeting to complete within this month the vaccination of all its active personnel against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Lt. Col. Maria Joyce Birrey, the PRO-12 spokesperson, said only 37 commissioned, non-commissioned and non-uniformed police personnel in the entire region have not been inoculated against the disease as of Tuesday.
Citing a report from the Regional Health Service (RHS)-12, she said some 7,969 or 99.5 percent of the total 8,006 police personnel in the area have already received at least their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The exact figures are not immediately available but she said that majority of them are fully vaccinated or with complete two doses.
“The remaining unvaccinated personnel already have schedules for vaccination,” she said in an interview.
Birrey said some of them had to defer their vaccination earlier due to certain medical conditions and other circumstances.
PRO-12 officials and personnel started receiving Covid-19 vaccines last March, initially covering the health service staff and other frontline units.
The provincial and city police offices and stations rolled out the vaccination for other personnel in August in coordination with the rural health units through the AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the Japanese government.
Along with the high vaccination coverage, Birrey said the number of new Covid-19 infections in their ranks has also decreased in the past several weeks.
She said they only have eight active cases so far and the patients, who are closely monitored by the RHS-12, only have minor symptoms.
Since March last year, the PRO-12 recorded a total of 813 Covid-19 cases and six related deaths among its personnel.
Birrey said all police offices and stations in the region have sustained the strict observance of the health protocols and other measures to prevent a possible outbreak of the disease.
Several police stations here were forced to close down for several days early this year due to confirmed Covid-19 cases.
“We also continued the regular testing for Covid-19 of our personnel, especially those assigned in vulnerable areas to immediately contain new infections,” she said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
