Medical students who are attending face-to-face classes in colleges and universities in Manila will get vaccinated to protect themselves against Covid-19.

Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso gave the assurance Wednesday after approving the conduct of limited F2F classes in four more universities in Manila.

“We made a commitment to the medical schools and students kasi ang gusto ko mapapanatag yung mga magulang ng mga estudyanteng yun na yung kanilang mga anak at yung environment kung saan sila mag aaral ng face to face, na medical students, ay maproteksyunan (we want to assure the parents of these students that their children are protected in whatever environment they are in),” Domagoso said during his Facebook live update.

On Tuesday, Domagoso approved the request of four more schools – University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), PHINMA St. Jude College (SJC), and National University (NU) – to conduct limited face-to-face classes for their medical and allied health programs.

He earlier gave green light to six schools to hold limited face-to-face classes. These are Metropolitan Medical Center College of Arts and Sciences, Manila Theological College’s College of Medicine, Chinese General Hospital Colleges, Centro Escolar University (CEU), University of Santo Tomas UST), and the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) College of Medicine.

As required by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the schools have submitted their respective plans on how they will comply with the imposed health protocols during the conduct of face-to-face sessions.

During his meeting with school officials, Domagoso encouraged them to have everyone in their campuses inoculated during the vaccination for A4 category groups that will start on June 7.

“The A4 category has been simplified. It now includes all workers who are required to go outside their homes to perform their jobs. Kaya pwede na ang halos lahat. Antabayanan lang natin ang announcement na pwede na ang A4 (So, almost everyone is included. Let us just wait for the announcement when A4 is already allowed) and, of course, when vaccines are available,” Domagoso said.

He assured the city will support if the students get infected while attending in-person classes.

Domagoso said many students enrolled in Manila came from different provinces and having them vaccinated will give their parents peace of mind. (PNA)