The government has allocated at least 30,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) under the custody of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Thursday.
In a message to reporters, Guevarra said the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) would distribute them to various BuCor-administered prison facilities in two to three days.
The BuCor will provide its own vaccinators, he added.
Guevarra earlier asked vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to allocate vaccine doses to PDLs. Galvez responded by endorsing the request to NVOC chairperson and Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje.
“We wholeheartedly agree with the Secretary’s assessment that vaccination of PDLs is vital to prevent virus transmission in overcrowded environments such as prison facilities,” Galvez said in his letter to Guevarra dated November 25.
The Philippines on Thursday reported 564 new COVID-19 cases, marking the ninth consecutive day the country registered less than 1,000 new cases.
The death toll climbed to 48,752 with 40 new fatalities. — VBL, GMA News
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