MANILA - Nearly half or 48 percent of the Philippine National Police are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, its chief said Monday.

Out of the 93 percent that have received a jab, some 45 percent are waiting for their second dose, said PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.

In Metro Manila, 63 percent out of 97 percent of its police force have been fully inoculated, he added.

"Sa NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office) specifically, we see to it na yung ating mga pulis na nadedeploy, lalo na sa mga checkpoint natin, ay fully vaccinated," he told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(In NCRPO specifically, we see to it that policemen deployed, especially in checkpoints, are fully vaccinated.)

Eleazar made the remarks after the Inter-Agency Task Force approved the implementation of granular lockdowns across the capital region instead of enforcing a quarantine status.

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Under granular lockdowns, policemen are expected to man checkpoints along with force multipliers, Eleazar said.

PNP personnel to be deployed in these areas must wait for their COVID-19 test results, he added.

"Hindi na po mauulit nag nangyari noon sa SONA na habang naghihintay ng resulta ay nasa deployment ka," he said.

(What happened last SONA will not occur again, that while waiting for their test results, personnel were deployed.)

Some 35,703 policemen have contracted COVID-19 as of Sunday night, of which 2,238 cases remain active, according to Eleazar.

A total of 108 or 0.3 percent of the cases have died, while the PNP has a 93.4 percent recovery rate, he added.

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