ALMOST 73 percent of education frontliners and students in 1,488 higher education institutions have been vaccinated against Covid19, the Commission on Higher Education said on Monday.

CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III said several HEIs have relatively high vaccination rates because of their partnerships with the local government units.

“Dito sa Metro Manila ang ilang eskwelahan tulad ng Philsca (Philippine State College of Aeronautics) sa Pasay, 82% ng faculty members ang vaccinated na at 78% ang administrative staff. Kahit na sa Zamboanga, sa mga pamantasan doon, 66% sa kanilang faculty and employees are already vaccinated,” De Vera said.

“Ang Mariano Marcos State University sa Ilocos Norte dahil mayroon silang medical and allied health programs at malakas na koneksiyon sa ospital – 91% ng kanilang faculty, 97% ng mga estudyante nag-face-to-face ay bakunado na,” he added.

De Vera pointed out that universities and colleges in areas with inadequate supply of Covid19 vaccines have low vaccination turnout.

“Halimbawa sa Aklan State University, 79% ang hindi pa nabakunahan, sa Palawan State University 66% ng mga estudiyante, ang University of Eastern Philippines sa Samar ay between 50% to 70% ang vaccination nila across campuses, at sa Davao de Oro State College ay 29% pa lang ang nabakunahan,” he said.

The CHED chief, however, said that the commission expects to achieve the required vaccination level in every HEI once more vaccines arrive in the country.

He added that officials are aggressively pushing for the vaccination of all employees and students in HEIs to “add another layer of protection during face-to-face classes.”

“Dahil alam na natin ang vaccination rate nila (HEIs) at inatasan natin na makipag-unayan sa kanilang local governments, pagdating ng mas maraming bakuna ay tataas na ang vaccination sa mga lugar na ‘yan,” De Vera explained.