EXTRA PROTECTION. Persons Deprived of Liberty at the Iloilo District Jail in Barangay Nanga, Pototan avail of their booster shots on Thursday (Feb. 10, 2022). A total of 1,164 PDLs from three facilities were boosted during the rollout.(Photo courtesy of Department of Health-Western Visayas Center) ILOILO CITY - The continuous rollout of the vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) benefitted 1,164 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) in Barangay Nanga in the municipality of Pototan on Thursday. Jail Chief Inspector Jairus Anthony D. Dogelio, information officer of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), in an interview said the rollout focused on the provision of booster dose to PDLs at the IDJ's male and female dormitories and the Panay Isolation Facility (PIF) or the newly-committed PDLs. Nine other personnel of the BJMP also availed of their booster shots. "This is to strengthen the immunity of the PDLs since almost all of our BJMP personnel have already their booster shots. This is also to be ready for the non-contact visitation once we will be downgraded from Level 3 to Level 2," he said. Dogelio said that almost 99 percent of the PDLs in various facilities of the BJMP have been vaccinated. In January this year, PDLs at the Iloilo City District Jail male and female dormitories were the first to receive their booster dose. Other facilities are also coordinating with their respective LGUs for the booster shots of other PDLs. "Those who have none yet, that will be the focus of our regional office collaboration with the Department of Health," he said. Dogelio added that there was no vaccine hesitancy on the part of the PDLs as the BJMP embarks on a continuing education campaign on the significance of being inoculated. Inoculating PDLs, he said, is also one of the priorities of the Health Service Division of the regional office of the BJMP. "They are all willing to submit to vaccination and booster shots," he said. (PNA) }