Medical and nursing students are now eligible to take part in the government’s vaccination drive under a joint memorandum signed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Department of Health (DOH).
Postgraduate or undergraduate interns, clinical clerks and fourth year medicine and nursing students who will be supervised by licensed physicians and nurses can volunteer as health screeners, vaccinators and pre/post vaccination monitors, CHEd said on Saturday.
The national government is ramping up the vaccination rollout as more COVID-19 vaccines arrive.
“As we increase the number of vaccination sites and increase daily targets, these additional vaccinators and support staff are critical to achieve herd immunity in the next two months,” CHEd Chair Prospero de Vera III said.
Among those institutions covered by Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2021-003 are public universities and colleges and higher education institutions (HEIs) with nursing and/or medical schools.
The local governments and local vaccination operations centers are required to set the number of personnel for their vaccination workforce.
“The participation of postgraduate or undergraduate interns, clinical clerks and fourth year nursing students in the National COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment and Vaccination Program as part of the vaccination workforce shall be voluntary in nature,” the document read.
Their volunteer work and hours rendered for service will be credited to their internship. The vaccination team’s head will also provide certification. (© Philippine Daily Inquirer News)
