The push for a massive vaccination program is part of the government’s preparation to secure a “safe resumption of face-to-face classes” in the country, National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 chief Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Wednesday.

Galvez, also the vaccine czar, said the government recognizes the impacts of restrictions and lockdowns on the mental health of children.

“We see that there are already mental effects and there is also psychological effect, not only on children but to the whole family,” he said.

Galvez said the country’s recalibrated Covid-19 national action plan involves core objectives of saving lives, saving the economy, and saving the children’s future.

Under the core of saving children’s future, Galvez said the government is ramping the “safe pediatric vaccination” to push a sustainable education system for children amid the health crisis.

Galvez said the government has coordinated with the education sector to allow the gradual opening of more physical or face-to-face classes in the country, as recommended by some senators.

“Our moving forward is to open up more classes. And even our lawmakers are pushing to opening up more schools,” he added.

The government, he said, is now preparing to hold a massive vaccination of students, teachers, and other schools’ personnel.

“To make sure that this coming November and December, more or less 90 percent of schools [personnel] are already vaccinated. And we can open up more,” he added.

Galvez said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the recommendation to allow the resumption of classes in the areas with a lower number of Covid-19 cases.

Under the approved guidelines of Resolution 148-G, the IATF-EID has adopted the proposed resumption of limited face-to-face classes for all degree programs following the phased and nationwide Alert Levels System.

The limited F2F classes are now allowed in areas placed under Alert Levels 1, 2, and 3, subject to certain conditions.

“We will see if it is alert level 2 or 1 and we will be more flexible. The decision will be with the regional Commission on Higher Education, Department of Education and also with the local government units,” Galvez said. (PNA)