CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) -- About 956 tertiary students received their COVID-19 vaccines at the Our Lady of Fatima University (OLFU) Pampanga Campus as part of the Regional Simultaneous Vaccination Program in Central Luzon.
 
The activity was initiated by Commission on Higher Education in partnership with Department of Health, Department of the Interior and Local Government and Philippine Information Agency.
 
OLFU Executive Vice President Don August Enriquez underscored that the vaccination drive will create a safer environment for students, faculty members, and staff with the gradual reopening of in-person classes in the campus.
 
“It’s been a long time since the students have gone back to their classes, laboratories, and campuses. The opportunity for them to learn the skills that they have to, has lessened… With the limited face-to-face classes being approved by the government, it is good that we will be able to put them back in a campus, in a very safe environment,” he said.
 
Those who received their jabs at OLFU-Pampanga Campus include students from ACLC College of Apalit, City College of Angeles, FDSA Aviation College of Science and Technology Inc., Jose C. Feliciano College Foundation, La Verdad Christian College Foundation Inc., Republic Central Colleges, St. Thomas More College, and SACT St. Mutien College.
 
Also, OLFU is bent on allaying the vaccine hesitancy and increasing the vaccine willingness among its students and staff with the conduct of information dissemination campaigns in-campus and online. 
 
“The vaccines are the key for us to go back safely. Although it might not be exactly the same as it was pre-pandemic, we can slowly get into a point that we can live in the new normal… It’s an opportunity for us to really take advantage of the vaccines and make sure the students learn what they should be learning on campus,” Enriquez emphasized.
 
Based on records, about 5,655 or 86 percent of tertiary students; 92 percent of the faculty members; and 94 percent of non-teaching staff at OLFU-Pampanga Campus are already fully vaccinated.
 
In addition, OLFU has been a partner of the city government of San Fernando in fast tracking the COVID-19 vaccination as it serves as a jabbing site, administering an average of 800 to 1,200 doses daily.
 
“We are also open to partner with other schools if their volume is big, and they do not have the manpower or the system to put up a vaccination site in their own campuses. They could always coordinate with us as we are happy to share our vaccination site,” Enriquez furthered.
 
OLFU has been conducting limited face-to-face classes for 15 college students enrolled in Physical Therapy; 100 in Nursing; and 100 in Medical Technology.
 
The university is also about to complete the retrofitting of its facilities for the reopening of expanded face-to-face classes for degree courses on Civil Engineering, Pharmacy, and Hospitality and Institutional Management. (MJSC/JLDC-PIA 3)