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4:02 pm on 18 October 2021, Monday
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Monday that they will discuss with vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. the possible allocation of vaccines against COVID-19 to Persons Deprived with Liberty (PDLs).
"The crowded condition in prison facilities makes it necessary to give attention to the PDLs' plight," Guevarra told reporters. The DOJ is the mother agency of the Bureau of Corrections that manages seven prisons and penal farms across the country.
Vaccination of the general adult population has already started in the country, but COVID-19 vaccines have yet to reach cramped penal facilities in the country
BuCor officials earlier explained that they rely on the vaccine supply of local government units where their facilities are located for the inoculation of their staff and inmates.
The latest data from the bureau showed that only 4,744 out of 48,511 inmates or less than 10% of the population in their facilities have completed their vaccines against COVID-19.
At the main penitentiary, New Bilibid Prison, only 1,400 inmates out of 28,499 PDLs in its facilities are fully vaccinated as of October 18.
At the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro, Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Leyte Regional Prison, and Davao Prison and Penal Farm, not one inmate has received a vaccine against COVID-19.
So far, only the Correctional Institution for Women posted a high percentage of vaccination with 3,100 out of its 3.341 inmates tagged as fully vaccinated.