PRO-7: 150 policemen in A4 group get first COVID jab

Policemen from PRO-7 or Police Regional Office in Central Visayas Personnel and Dr. Guy Perez, assistant regional director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) (3rd from left, front row), attend the symbolic COVID-19 vaccination today, July 8, at the PRO-7 headquarters. | Pegeen Maisie Sararaña 

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Some 150 policemen from the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) have already received their first doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines today, July 8.

This will bring the number of vaccinated PRO-7 policemen to 1,860. 

Another batch of 150 policemen are expected to be vaccinated on Friday, July 9, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Marilou Aboloc, acting chief of the Regional Medical and Dental Unit in Central Visayas (RMDU-7),

Aboloc said that this group of policemen vaccinated today was the first batch in the A4 category to receive the first dose of the vaccine.

This is composed of personnel who are in the front line during this pandemic such as those assigned in the operations, in patrol groups, and in community relations. 

She added that their count of vaccinated policemen was based on the allocation that the Department of Health (DOH-7) provided to them.

She said that only 50 policemen were vaccinated inside the PRO-7 headquarters that served as the PRO-7’s ceremonial COVID-19 vaccination site.

The other 100 policemen vaccinated today were inoculated of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

She said that the vaccinated PRO-7 policemen were still 7.2 percent out of the 12,233 policemen of PRO-7 who needed to be vaccinated.

Abaloc said she was hoping that they would achieve 100 percent vaccination of these policemen in the coming weeks.

Aside from that, she also encouraged Cebu province policemen to coordinate with their respective local government units for their vaccination because the PRO-7 was still waiting for their supply of vaccines.

Abaloc said that the PRO-7 could not give a schedule for the vaccinations because this would depend on their vaccine allocation. 

“We are hoping for the coming days, weeks, and months nga tanang kapulisan nato mabakunahan na and kadtong mga naa sa probinsya, we highly encourage ng mucoordinate sa mga LGUs nato kung naay allocation sa ilaha,” Aboloc said.

(We are hoping that for the coming days, weeks, and months, all our policemen will be vaccinated and those assigned in the province, we highly encourage them that they will coordinate with the LGUs if there is an allocation for them.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Guy Perez, assistant regional director of DOH-7, said that the Philippine National Police (PNP) had been very compliant with the guidelines that the DOH-7 had set for immunization sites. 

Perez said this was the reason they were allowed to make a vaccination site inside the headquarters and conducted the vaccination program.

“If you can see, ang atoang PNP wala sila mag-una-una. They followed according to the guidelines and prioritization,” he said.

(If you can see our PNP did not try to be the first to be vaccinated. They followed according to the guidelines and prioritization.)

“So we hope others will also understand that even sila sa PNP, sa tanang pagrespond, including the latest sa atoang immunization, ni follow gyud sila,” Perez said.

(So we hope others will understand that even they in the PNP, in responding, including the latest in our immunization, they followed [the guidelines].)

For Police Major Rey de los Santos of the Police Community Affairs Development Division of the PRO-7, who was one of those inoculated today, he now had peace of mind after he was vaccinated, especially that he worked on the ground and with the community.

“Lisod man gud matakdan sa COVID-19  kay madamay ang atoang tibuok pamilya. At least naa nakoy peace of mind, nabakunahan nako,” said De Los Santos.

(It will be difficult if you get infected with COVID-19 because it will affect the whole family. At least, now, I have peace of mind that I am vaccinated.)

“Sa amoa gud, naa mi sa community relations. Sige mi kampanya sa mga tawo nga magpabakuna. Karon, makaingon nako nga at least naa nakoy moral ascendancy nga muingon og pabakuna mo,” De Los Santos said.

(For us, we are in community relations. We are always campaigning to the public to have themselves vaccinated. Now, we can at least we have moral ascendancy to say that they should have themselves vaccinated.)

With this, Aboloc reminded police personnel, who received their vaccination, to strictly adhere to the minimum health standards and to never lower their guard especially that COVID was still here.

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