CHED removes vaccination requirement for students, personnel
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will no longer require that students and personnel in colleges and universities are vaccinated as higher edcuation returns to classroom learning.
The policy change comes just as full-time in-person face-to-face classes resume two years since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
CHED said all of the institutions that have been conducting in-person classes before the pandemic are fully reopening their classrooms to students this year.
“Students and higher education institution personnel regardless of vaccination status can now participate in face-to-face classes,” CHED Chairman Prospero “Popoy” de Vera said in a briefing on Monday afternoon.
De Vera said CHED will issue a circular that details guidelines of the policy changes this week.
The commission is taking its from other countries have already removed vaccination mandates for higher educational institutions. It also said it consulted with health experts and checked local virus trends before deciding to scrap the vaccination requirement.
CHED also noted that the age group of college and university stakeholders are not considered high-risk for the virus.
High vaccination rates
CHED also took into account the high vaccination rate seen among the population of colleges and universities in the Philippines in making the decision to no longer require COVID-19 vaccination for the resumption of in-person classes.
According to the Department of Health’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, the country has administered over 160.347 million COVID-19 doses as of August 29.
More than 72.476 million have received their complete COVID-19 vaccination and 17.843 million have since received their booster doses.
Despite this, CHED still encourages institutions to inform their stakeholders on the benefits of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and getting their booster shots.
Other protocols
Institutions will also decide on their own if they wish to implement the changes on the minimum health and safety protocols issued by the government. This means it is now up to schools if they still wish to conduct body temperature checks and issue health declaration forms to stakeholders.
However, higher educational institutions are reminded to still be careful amid the pandemic.
Colleges and univerisities are also given the option to apply for a "safety seal" certification, similar to what is given to businesses.
CHED also asks institutions to still make sure that they maintain minimum public health standards, which includes wearing of face masks, encouraging stakeholders to wash their hands, and observe physical distancing, and to develop COVID-19 response protocols.
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