Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Department of Health (DOH) Officer-in-Charge Secretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire led the PinasLakas launch  at the Supreme Court of the Philippines through a ceremonial vaccination of the members of the Judiciary yesterday, August 15, 2022.

Attended by top and retired officials of the Judiciary, the event highlighted the Judiciary’s support for the national goal of strengthening the country’s wall of immunity against COVID-19 through settings-based vaccination drives.

At the Supreme Court, 96% are fully vaccinated, and 92% of employees have already received their first booster shot. Meanwhile, 48.8% have received their second boosters, while the remaining 51.2% received their booster shots with the launch of the campaign yesterday.

In his message, Chief Justice Gesmundo underscored the importance of vaccination in their day-to-day operations in the Judiciary, which significantly contributes to the realization and execution of their mandates. He likewise thanked the DOH for bringing vaccination closer to the members of the country’s judicial system through the PinasLakas campaign.

“Ang bawat hukuman sa bansa ay maituturing na workplace settings na parte ng kampanyang PinasLakas. Sa pamamagitan ng bakunahan na magaganap ngayon dito sa Kataas-taasang hukuman, nawa’y magkaroon ito ng ripple effect sa ating mga hukuman sa iba’t ibang panig ng bansa. Thank you for joining the Legislative and Executive branches of government in the call to expand vaccination coverage – this is a clear manifestation that we are mounting a holistic approach to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” said DOH OIC-Secretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire

To date, more than 18,900 PinasLakas vaccination sites have been launched all over the country, which include areas such as markets, schools, workplaces, terminals, places of worship, and mobile vaccination sites among others where free, safe, and effective vaccines are made available. The government aims to fully vaccinate 90% of the A2 or senior citizen population, as well as increase booster dose coverage to 50% of the total target population before October 8, 2022, which marks the first 100 days of the Marcos administration.