The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ordered all 150,000 of its soldiers and their dependents to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), AFP spokesman Major General Edgard Arevalo said in a press briefing on Thursday, February 25.

“Ang Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas is not like any organization. Tayo po ay service-oriented organization. Tayo po ang inaasahan sa mararaming mabibigay na tungkulin tulad ng pagharap ng pandemya. Kaya hindi opsyon ang pag-ayaw,” Arevalo said in an online briefing.

(The Armed Forces of the Philippines is not like any organization. We are a service-oriented organization. Many rely on us on numerous matters, including facing the pandemic. So, refusal is not an option.)

The AFP will subsidize their vaccination if the jabs are available from the national stockpile. The first batch of this will be the 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines set to arrive on February 28. Some 100,000 doses were reserved for the military.

The military gets this big share from the first shipment despite being categorized as the 4th priority group for vaccinations, following frontline medical workers, senior citizens, and people with comorbidities.

If soldiers do not want to use the Sinovac vaccine, they would have to look for a vaccine and pay for it themselves. So far, this option is not possible as there are no commercially available vaccines in the country.

Asked if this means that soldiers have no choice but to take in the Sinovac vaccine, Arevalo said, “That may be the case.”

On Thursday afternoon, however, the Department of Health announced the rollout of Sinovac was placed “on hold” as it has yet to get the recommendation and approval of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

The AFP has an estimated 150,000 personnel. If they end up receiving 100,000 doses, that means 50,000 will get the required 2 doses. Arevalo said they will prioritize AFP members who are medical workers and frontliners.

Soldiers who do not get inoculated will face administrative complaints. – Rappler.com