THE Department of Health (DOH) will establish coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination sites in schools in a bid to strengthen the government’s inoculation program, DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Friday, July 15, 2022.Vergeire said this is to encourage students and their parents to get inoculated against the virus amid the transition to full face-to-face classes.“We are going to set up vaccination sites in schools… to further encourage not just children but also their mothers when they go to school and they bring their children there,” she said in a television interview.“They are there already and they might be more encouraged because ‘yung access po ay binigay na natin sa kanila. Even teachers and those non-teaching personnel that have not been vaccinated yet baka mas ma-encourage natin,” she added.Not a requirementShe reiterated, however, that Covid-19 vaccination is not a requirement to allow students to attend in-person classes.Starting November 2, 2022, public and private schools should have transitioned to a five-day in-person classes and ditch the conduct of blended or distance learning.The DepEd did not set a capacity for each class but reminded schools about the maintenance of physical distancing and other health protocols during the conduct of face-to-face classes.Health workers benefitsMeanwhile, aside from the strengthening of the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program especially for the administration of booster doses to eligible population, Vergeire said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. also ordered the prioritization of other programs related to the Covid-19 pandemic response, as well as the release of the benefits of the healthcare workers.Vergeire admitted that the agency is addressing the lack of funding for the additional benefits of the healthcare workers, but she said some funds have already been downloaded to DOH Centers for Health Development.”The issues would really be transactional, compliance to requirements, non-signing of memorandum of agreement, liquidation of previous funds given to them,” she said.“The heads of the facility have to comply with the requirements so we can be able to release the funds to them…We have informed them of what they should be complying with,” she added. (SunStar Philippines)