PNP deploying assets for vaccine transport — chief

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police assured the public that its Directorate for Logistics and other concerned police units are prepared to deploy air, land and sea assets and other police resources for the transportation and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. 

This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the use of the air assets of the police and even the military in bringing vaccines to the different regions. 

In a statement sent to reporters Thursday, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, guaranteed that police air, land and sea assets are ready for use in transporting COVID-19 vaccines to various provinces and municipalities, especially localities in far-flung areas. 

"Not only the air assets of the PNP, but also the land and water assets, are ready to assist in the delivery of vaccines to our towns and provinces," Eleazar said in mixed Filipino and English.

“I already directed the police regional directors to coordinate with local chief executives to discuss the logistics of the vaccine delivery. I also instructed them to deploy additional personnel who will focus on vaccine deliveries."

The national government aims to administer at least 15 million doses against COVID-19 in November, as the country moves to achieve its target herd immunity.

The latest data shows that the country has so far administered 60,406,424 doses as of November 2.

There are now 27.749 million Filipinos who completed their doses, while 32.656 million others are tagged as partially vaccinated.

"Apart from security and transportation, our Medical Reserve Force is also on standby to immediately deploy any localities that need assistance to speed up the vaccination process," Eleazar said.

“Our local police units nationwide have also been tasked to help out in disseminating the right information about the COVID-19 vaccines through their various social media platforms and our Oplan Bandillo.”

He urged the public to avail of COVID-19 vaccines with more supplies arriving in the country, adding that getting anti-COVID shots is the main shield of the public against COVID-19.

To date, the Department of Health has tallied 2.79 million coronavirus infections around the country, 38,014 of whom are classified as active cases.