63% of cops willing to get COVID-19 jabs

MANILA, Philippines — At least 138,033 members of the Philippine National Police have expressed willingness to be inoculated against COVID-19, the PNP said yesterday.

PNP deputy chief for administration Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the figure represents 63 percent of the approximately 219,100 members of the police force.

“Sixty-three percent are willing to be vaccinated,” he said in a text message.

Eleazar said this can be attributed to the PNP information drive on the benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, which outweighs the potential risks and danger.

“What we do now is to persuade them or convince them to be vaccinated. But we would like to clarify that we are not forcing them,” he said in a statement.

The PNP personnel who were initially hesitant to be vaccinated said they need more time and information before deciding whether to get inoculated.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas earlier expressed willingness to get vaccinated in public with the COVID-19 vaccine of Chinese drug firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. to boost the people’s confidence in the jabs purchased by the national government.

The PNP also instructed its police commanders to coordinate with their respective local government units to check if they are included in the LGUs’ vaccination plan.