ILOILO – Fifteen teachers of Ajuy National High School not vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were crying foul. They were barred from entering the campus.
Vaccination is not mandatory among Department of Education (DepEd) personnel, but the unvaccinated must present negative results of their reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test or antigen test to gain entry, explained Lyvi Alfin, principal of Ajuy National High School in Ajuy, Iloilo.
Alfin cited Memorandum Order No. 575 of the DepEd Task Force COVID-19 giving such an alternative to unvaccinated DepEd personnel working onsite (reporting to school).
In the case of the 15 teachers, according to Alfin, they failed to present negative results of either their RT-PCR or antigen tests on Jan. 3, the first working day of DepEd personnel for 2022.
“Nagalain gid ang amon buot. Bal-an man sang Gino-o kon ano ang ginhimu namon para sa eskwelahan, sa students,” according to Jacky Fundal, adviser of Grade 8 students at Ajuy National High School.
So why haven’t they had themselves vaccinated against COVID-19?
“Indi kami against sa vaccination. Pero lawas namon ini. Bag-o namon i-take sa lawas namon (ang COVID-19 vaccine) ma-research kami anay kon ano ang epekto sa amon,” said Fundal.
Regarding the DepEd alternative to vaccination – presenting either RT-PCR or antigen negative test result every two weeks – Fundal said these are costly.
“Kami ‘ya ma-shoulder sang amon RT-PCR or antigen test. Te pila man lang ang sweldo sang teacher,” said Fundal.
Her group hopes the Schools Division Office of Iloilo would act on their concern.
DEPED-6 FIRM
DepEd Region 6 affirmed Memorandum Order No. 575 requiring eligible personnel working onsite (in school) to get vaccinated.
“We are encouraging our personnel to get vaccinated for the protection of our learners and their personnel as well,” according to Hernani Escullar Jr., information officer of DepEd-6.
Escullar, however, clarified that vaccination is not obligatory.
“Vaccination is not mandatory but we have to abide with the guidance from the (DepEd) Central Office,” he said.
The guidance is DepEd Task Force COVID-19 Memorandum Order No. 575 dated Dec. 7, 2021 covering “personnel reporting on-site beginning 01 December 2021.”
“The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) issued Resolution Number 148-B, which should have taken effect on 01 December 2021, providing that “in areas where there are sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines as determined by the National Vaccines Operation Center (NVOC), all establishments and employers in the public and private sectors shall require their eligible employees who are tasked to do onsite work to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”
Here are the guidance.
* Eligible employees who remain unvaccinated may not be terminated solely by reason thereof. However, they shall be required to undergo RT-PCR test regularly at their own expense for purposes of onsite work. Provided that, antigen test may be resorted to when RT-PCR capacity is insufficient or not immediately available.
* If the unvaccinated personnel will be required to report onsite, they shall be required to present a negative result of RT-PCR test undertaken at most 48 hours before the day of reporting, and which shall be valid for up to two weeks from the day of testing, unless the personnel develop symptoms, for which they shall stop reporting on-site and proceed to established health protocols.”
* The RT-PCR or antigen test of unvaccinated personnel who have refused to be vaccinated despite being eligible for vaccination shall be charged at the personnel’s expense.
As of Dec. 10, 2021, only 63,727 personnel (teaching and non-teaching) of DepEd-6 were vaccinated, (either first dose or fully vaccinated), while 20,057 remained unvaccinated./PN