The City College of San Fernando, Pampanga (CCSFP) has taken another step to ensure the safety of its students once the national government allows the conduct of face-to-face classes for tertiary levels.
This, after the college, through the help of the City Health Office (CHO), vaccinated a number of its students from all levels against COVID-19 on November 3, 2021 at Heroes Hall.
“Parte ng ating paghahanda para sa posibleng pagsasagawa ng limited face-to-face classes, maliban sa mga iba nating plano sa aspeto ng paraan ng pagtuturo at paggamit ng pasilidad, ay ang pagbabakuna sa mga estudyante upang masiguro nating walang panganib sa oras na papasok sila,” explained Atty. Gloria Victoria-Bañas, CCSFP President.
While the college is steadfast in vaccinating its students, Victoria-Bañas shared that this was not mandated by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The commission instead stated that it is “encouraging vaccinations for an added layer of protection for students and faculty members.”
All CCSFP officials, faculty members, non-teaching staff, and security and utility personnel have been fully vaccinated.
In October of this year, CCSFP has also conducted vaccinations for students from the fourth level who are attending their internship programs.
In terms of providing quality education amidst the pandemic, the CCSFP continuously delivers blended learning for its students through modular and online-based materials as it still awaits the guidelines for in-person classes from the higher institution.
These efforts were even recognized by CHED in June 2021 as it conferred “Best Response in Mitigating the Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic (Rank 2)” and “Best Professional Organization for Association of Local Colleges and Universities in Region 3 (Rank 3)” to the college.
For the academic year 2021-2022, CCSFP has over 800 enrolled students and almost 90% of this population signified their desire to be vaccinated.
The college is continuously conducting discussions with students and parents who remain to be hesitant with vaccination.
City Health Officer-in-Charge Dr. Carlos Mercado said that apart from CCSFP students, the vaccination team has also been inoculating students aged 18 years old and above since the start of the drive.
The CHO will always be open to accommodate students who wish to be vaccinated, as long as they meet the eligibility, Mercado added.
As of this writing, the City Government of San Fernando has vaccinated a total of 178,544 individuals for first dose and fully-vaccinated 132,203 other Fernandinos.
These numbers represent 73.75% and 54.6%, respectively, of the target eligible population of 242,102.
