PNP deputy chief for administration, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. (File photo)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has strengthened its information campaign to convince all of its personnel to get inoculated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines.
Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP deputy chief for administration and concurrent Administrative Support for Covid-19 Task Force (ASCOTF) head, said Tuesday that this would be made through the use of PNP Covid-19 Data (CODA), an application exclusive to all PNP personnel, wherein videos and fact sheets from the Department of Health (DOH) and other health experts explaining the benefits of vaccination are regularly posted to educate both uniformed and civilian personnel on how the vaccine works and protects against Covid-19 infection.
“Some of our personnel are really hesitant to avail of the Covid-19 vaccine and we attribute it to the deluge of information that they would read or see especially in the social media. But as our health experts always say, vaccination far outweighs the potential risks and claims of danger So 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, we are just trying to explain everything to them," Eleazar told reporters.
Last week, PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, has approved the recommendation of the PNP-ASCOTF to conduct a survey to determine the perception of all PNP personnel on the government’s vaccination program.
Policemen, especially those assigned in the Covid-19 response frontlines and those whose assignments are related to containing the pandemic, are on the government’s priority list.
Eleazar said that during the first conduct of the survey last week, 49 percent of those surveyed had expressed doubts on whether they should avail of the vaccines.
While the respondents are only asked if they want to be vaccinated, Eleazar said those who said no explained why they are refusing the free Covid-19 vaccination of the government.
He said most of the respondents who do not want to be vaccinated said that they want to have more information about the vaccination while some said they need more time to decide.
“That is their honest to goodness perception about the vaccines. And that also serves as the basis of our intervention. So our Health Service came up with DOH vaccination videos for the appreciation of our personnel,” Eleazar said.
As a result of the information drive, he said thousands of policemen changed their minds and signified interest to be vaccinated.
“From 49 percent when we first conducted the survey, the percentage of those who do not want to be vaccinated is now only at 37 percent. Based on our data, this translates to a change of mind of more than 26,000 of our personnel,” Eleazar said.
So far, he said the number of PNP personnel who wanted to be vaccinated continues to increase. (PNA)
“Some of our personnel are really hesitant to avail of the Covid-19 vaccine and we attribute it to the deluge of information that they would read or see especially in the social media. But as our health experts always say, vaccination far outweighs the potential risks and claims of danger So 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, we are just trying to explain everything to them," Eleazar told reporters.
Last week, PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, has approved the recommendation of the PNP-ASCOTF to conduct a survey to determine the perception of all PNP personnel on the government’s vaccination program.
Policemen, especially those assigned in the Covid-19 response frontlines and those whose assignments are related to containing the pandemic, are on the government’s priority list.
Eleazar said that during the first conduct of the survey last week, 49 percent of those surveyed had expressed doubts on whether they should avail of the vaccines.
While the respondents are only asked if they want to be vaccinated, Eleazar said those who said no explained why they are refusing the free Covid-19 vaccination of the government.
He said most of the respondents who do not want to be vaccinated said that they want to have more information about the vaccination while some said they need more time to decide.
“That is their honest to goodness perception about the vaccines. And that also serves as the basis of our intervention. So our Health Service came up with DOH vaccination videos for the appreciation of our personnel,” Eleazar said.
As a result of the information drive, he said thousands of policemen changed their minds and signified interest to be vaccinated.
“From 49 percent when we first conducted the survey, the percentage of those who do not want to be vaccinated is now only at 37 percent. Based on our data, this translates to a change of mind of more than 26,000 of our personnel,” Eleazar said.
So far, he said the number of PNP personnel who wanted to be vaccinated continues to increase. (PNA)
