MANILA, Philippines—Over 42,000 persons deprived of liberty (PDL) detained in facilities under the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), a total of 42,493 PDLs have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Of the PDLs who got jabbed, 27,951 received the first dose; 7,473 received the second dose and 7,069 received a single dose COVID-19 vaccine.
The top three regions with the highest number of vaccinated PDLs are Metro Manila, CALABARZON, and Northern Mindanao.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año calls on local government units (LGUs) to provide enough budget allocation for PDLs and jail officers.
“Nakikiusap kami sa ating mga LGUs na bigyan ng sapat na alokasyon ang mga PDLs at jail officers. Napakadelikado na magkaroon ng hawaan sa loob ng mga piitan kaya dapat ay bakunado rin sila (We are requesting the LGUs to provide sufficient allocation for PDLs and jail officers. It would be very dangerous to have transmission inside detention centers so they need to be vaccinated as well),” he said.
“Our PDLs are not and will never be second-class citizens and they, too, deserve to be protected from the virus. We will not stop until all PDLs under the DILG and the BJMP’s supervision are all vaccinated,” he added.
Among the BJMP personnel, 12,568 are fully vaccinated while 14,441 are waiting for their second dose. AAC (with reports from Janice Ingente)
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