Vaccination programs for HEIs

By Dr. Rex Casiple

 

In the United States there is an increase in the number of colleges and universities that make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for students before they return to campus in September 2021. Some of these higher education institutions (HEIs) are being utilized as distribution sites for the vaccine. They are also used in mass communication campaign to educate the students and surrounding community about the importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccine in this time of pandemic.

The vaccination program for students in higher education will help provide a safer and stronger college experience among them. Hence, many vaccination requirements are imposed on students to prevent the spread of the disease. The eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines in the United States was expanded to people 16 years and older.

However, in some colleges and universities students can also request an exemption from vaccination for medical or religious reasons. And students without the vaccine will be required to continue weekly asymptomatic testing.

On the other hand vaccine hesitancy among parents is likewise increasing in the United States.  One survey showed that only 58% of parents said they would vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Seventy percent (70%) of them were saying they would vaccinate themselves. And that low-income and small households were less likely to vaccinate their children.

In the Philippines, the official COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on March 1, 2021 with an aim to inoculate at least 50 million Filipinos. The vaccination program prioritized frontline workers in health facilities (A1), senior citizens (A2), persons with comorbidities (A3) and higher education institution (HEI) frontline personnel (A4).

The HEI frontline personnel, including the skeleton workforce, were classified under the A4 category by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) because of their essential services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is to make sure of their safety as they receive student requirements, compute grades, process clearances, and issue transcript of records, diplomas and other credentials this academic year (AY) 2020-2021.

This is also to avoid delay in the processing of the documents of students who will continue their studies next school year or will graduate this school year. The delay in the processing of students’ credentials may risk these students not enrolling next school year.

Likewise, it will cause the graduates not to take licensure examinations or will not able them to look for employment because of their missing credentials. This HEI frontline personnel are required to report to provide essential services to more or less 3 million students in higher education. And prioritizing our teaching and non-teaching personnel for vaccination is essential in the gradual reopening of colleges and universities in the country.

The country has secured more than 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac and AstraZeneca.  Around 1.14 million of these have been provided mostly to the country’s health workers. The vaccination program in the country targeted to vaccinate up to 70 million individuals to achieve “herd” immunity against COVID-19.

The A4 group in the government vaccination also includes frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel and those in working sectors identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force as essential during enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Other groups in the priority line are indigent population (A5), teachers and social workers (B1), other government workers (B2), other essential workers (B3), socio-demographic groups at significantly higher risk other than senior citizens and indigent people (B4), Overseas Filipino Workers (B5), other remaining workforce (B6) and the rest of the Filipino population not otherwise included in the above groups (C).