President Rodrigo Duterte did not approve of the proposed pilot trial of face-to-face classes, saying that it is not worth risking the lives of teachers and students as the country still awaits for the rollout of the vaccine roadmap.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque however stated that the president may be open to the conduct of a pilot of face-to-face classes in August in areas with low numbers of COVID-19 cases.
“I guess what he is anticipating that since we will begin vaccination this month, we would be way ahead of our vaccination program in August to give us the confidence to resume at least limited face-to-face education,” Roque said in a briefing.
The country expects the arrival of Sinovac’s CoronaVac within three to five days after the Food and Drug Administration issuance of an emergency use authorization for the Chinese-made drug.
Last December, Duterte initially approved the implementation of pilot face-to-face classes in January in schools situated in low-risk areas for the virus. He retracted said order days after in light of the threat posed by the coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom and reported as more contagious.
