Almost 76% of PH’s target population now fully vaxxed

MANILA -- A total of 59,120,367 individuals nationwide or 75.7 percent of the target population are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), according to the National Task Force Against Covid-19.

In an interview Wednesday night, National Task Force Against Covid-19 consultant Dr. Maria Paz Corrales said the number is 53 percent of the total Philippine population.

More are expected to receive the life-saving shots as the national government further ramps up its vaccination campaign, expanding it to children aged 5 to 11 years old starting February 4, and in provinces badly hit by Typhoon Odette last year.

Corrales said a total of 780,000 doses of reformulated Pfizer vaccine for this age group would arrive February 3.

She added that the government is planning to hold another round of the national vaccination days for the young age group that would also cover booster doses.

“Meron tayong pinaplanong (We are planning a) national vaccination day that will cover the pediatric population, that’s 5 to 17, and then for the senior citizens, and the booster. We have to ramp up the three so the government is planning to have a national vaccination days para tumaas ang (to increase the number of) vaccination. We hope to achieve 90 million by June,” Corrales said. In areas stricken by "Odette", Corrales said the use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson and the Sputnik Light vaccines are recommended since they get protected against the disease immediately, without having to return for a second dose.

“The problem is 'yung mga Odette stricken areas, may ibang may problema pa sa storage kasi 'yung iba wala pang kuryente, may iba naman, 'yung mga vaccinators apektado dahil sa (There are areas with storage problems since some are still without power. There are also some vaccinators affected by the) Omicron surge but they have fully recuperated and they are going back to work. The government is doing all its efforts to help build again those Odette stricken areas,” Corrales said.

The country was at the height of its national vaccination days in December when "Odette" struck provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao, causing massive flooding and power outages that went on for days, disrupting the vaccination program in many areas.

Corrales was among the officials who welcomed the arrival of 455,130 doses of government procured Pfizer vaccine Wednesday night at the NAIA Terminal 3.

Corrales said the latest vaccine shipment was intended for the adult population and does not include the reformulated Pfizer jabs for children 5 to 11 years old.

780K Pfizer doses for ages 5 to 11 arriving on February 3 —DOH

Around 780,000 doses of the Pfizer anti-COVID vaccine minors aged 5 to 11 are scheduled to arrive in the Philippines on Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

“Itong pagdating ng mga bakuna bukas, 780,000 doses as an initial supply or delivery para sa ating bansa nitong reformulated Pfizer vaccines para sa ating kabataan 5 to 11,” Health Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.

Earlier, Malacañang announced that the vaccination of the 5 to 11 age group will be rolled out in the following vaccination sites in Metro Manila on Friday:

The Philippine Heart Center Philippine Children’s Medical Center National Children’s Hospital Manila Zoo SM North Edsa (Skydome)

Fil Oil Gym in San Juan City

Meanwhile, Vergeire said it will be rolled out at the SM Mega Mall on Saturday.

Vergeire said a total of 38 pilot vaccination sites for the vaccination of the age group will be deployed in Metro Manila on Saturday, five in Region III, and two sites in Calabarzon.

“Habang ang schedule sa iba pang mga lugar ay pinaguusapan and they will be confirming in the coming days,” she said.

She advised parents to register for vaccination through local government units or vaccination centers to avoid overcrowding.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said the Health Department has observed a slight increase in the number of cases for children 5 years and above while the number of cases among 12 to 17age group has decreased.

“Mula sa average na 35%, tumaas ito ng bahagya sa 37% nitong Enero" (from an average of 35%, this increased slightly to 37%), she said.

Despite this, she assured the public there is no need to worry.

“Patuloy po ang Kagawaran ng Kalusugan sa paggawa at pagpapatupad ng mga measures at protocols upang mapigilan pa natin ang paglaganap pa ng virus,” she said.

Gov’t expands COVID-19 vax drive in pharmacies to Cebu City –NTF

The Cebu City government on Wednesday launched its first “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” COVID-19 vaccination drive in pharmacies to get more individuals inoculated against the viral disease, the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 said.

The program was expanded to the city’s Rose Pharmacy, on top of the initial seven pharmacies and private clinics in Metro Manila that have participated in the initiative since January 20.

The NTF said they also included drugstores in Baguio City as part of the national government’s efforts to further expand the national vaccination program in the country.

NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the establishment of this program is the “way forward' in devolving the vaccination program to the local government units (LGUs) and, in the future, commercialization of the COVID-19 jabs.

“Darating ang araw na ‘pag commercialized na ang vaccine, [sila’y] pupunta na sa mga pharmacies katulad ng Rose Pharmacy at ‘yung ibang pharmacies [katulad ng] Watsons [at] Mercury Drug,” he said.

“From a national-centered policy, kailangan ay ‘yung correlation at ‘yung community response ang palakasin natin. We are very happy and confident na Cebu can do it kasi kayo ang mga nauna,” the vaccine czar added.

(From a national-centered policy, we need to strengthen the correlation and the community response. We are very happy and confident that Cebu can do it because they are among the firsts in this program.)

Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor

Michael Rama thanked the national government for helping the city strengthen its pandemic response and mitigation measures, as well as scale up its vaccine rollout.

“I am very thankful on behalf of the city government as we’ve been wanting that we all liberate the city of Cebu from the pandemic. And the way to liberation is vaccination,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday it is targeting to expand the “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” vaccination drive across the country come mid-February.

Galvez noted the government is targeting to administer booster doses to at least 72 million Filipinos this year, giving assurance that there is enough vaccine supplies in the country’s inventory.

About 90 million people are also eyed to be fully vaccinated by the second quarter of this year.

Based on DOH's national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 60,466,380 individuals have already received their first dose against COVID-19 as of Tuesday.

Of this number, 59,120,367 have completed their doses, while 7,576,859 have received their booster shots after reaching the three to six month requirement.

The COVID-19 vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years old will be rolled out starting Friday, February 4 in six vaccination sites.

The Philippines reported on Wednesday 7,661 additional COVID-19 infections, increasing the total caseload to 3,577,298.

Get rid of medical wastes properly, DOH tells labs, hospitals

The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday told laboratories and hospitals to dispose of their medical wastes properly amid reports that seven children caught coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) after playing with garbage dumped by a diagnostic center in Catanduanes.

"Unang una gusto nating paalalahanan ang lahat ng mga laboratoryo at facilities na may mga batas na sumasaklaw sa ganitong violations at polisiya (First of all, we want to remind laboratories and facilities that there are laws that cover this kind of violation as well as policies) to guide you on what you're supposed to do regarding these medical wastes," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media briefing.

An Inquirer report on Monday revealed that a village in the province's capital town Virac had found on January 24 garbage containing over 1,900 syringes and 2,000 blood sample tubes for Covid-19 tests and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) test kits, some of which were scattered on the shoreline.

"We are not going to tolerate this kind of irresponsible behavior," she added.

Globally, the World Health Organization said tons of medical waste from the Covid-19 response expose the urgent need to improve health care waste management practices in countries.

In the Philippines, Vergeire said DOH continues to closely coordinate with other agencies, including health care facilities and local governments in providing guidelines on the disposal of Covid-19 wastes.

She said facilities are required to have a proper waste management system or else they cannot operate.

(MNS)

Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit.

She added that the government would continue to promote and develop the Philippines as a top international MICE destination.

"The DOT and TPB teams are actually preparing for the MICE global campaign to be formally launched this year, wala tayong (we don't have this) global MICE campaign in the past so this is something that is new," she said.

Aside from the WTTC Global Summit, one of the events slated in the coming months is the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

"Our MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions) team is also in talks with several professional associations like medical groups, wellness groups because there are professional and corporate events already in our calendar," VelascoAllones said.

Philippines begins exploring pandemic exit plan, says official

The Philippine government will begin to explore its "pandemic exit plan" as soon as COVID-19 cases start to decline, Presidential Adviser on COVID-19 Response Vince Dizon said Wednesday.

Once the nationwide cases dip to below 1,000 per day, the country can start transitioning to the "endemic phase" or a time when the public learn to live with the virus, Dizon said in a virtual forum.

"I think we will begin with the transition this February. We just need to really bring down the cases to the levels hopefully that we have them late last year, below 1,000 cases per day," he said.

"And then, we can already begin really the process of transitioning from a pandemic framework to a more endemic framework," he added.

Part of the pandemic exit plan is to look into the possibility of removing the Alert Level System, as proposed by the business community led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion.

Concepcion has been pushing for the shift to the endemic mindset.

He said the pandemic exit plan must include the removal of the alert level system in the country, especially in areas that already have high vaccination rate.

"Kasama po 'yan sa mga pagaaralan at idi-discuss (that's part of the discussion) as we transition from the pandemic framework together with the entire world to a more endemic way of handling and mitigating the risks of COVID-19," Dizon said.

Details of the pandemic exit plan, which is currently being put together, will be released within the month, Dizon said.

The government, meanwhile, remains focused on pushing for vaccination, he said.

Currently, the country has an oversupply of vaccines which is seen as key in transitioning to the endemic phase, the official said, adding that almost all cities have 70 percent and higher vaccination rate.

Very few cities in the Visayas and Mindanao have below 70 percent full vaccination rate, he said.

Concepcion urged the coronavirus task force to take cue from other economies that have already transitioned to the endemic phase.

Other Western countries have already started to learn to live with the virus by practicing health protocols without the need for a lockdown, he said. "In a typhoon situation, you don't have the typhoon signal # 1 hoisted all the time. When there is no typhoon, there should be no typhoon signal," Concepcion said.

"So what we are proposing is, and we will be discussing this with the private sector and Sec. Vince, is that what is bare minimum health protocol. Katulad dito sa Amerika, walang alert level dito (just like here in the US, there are no alert levels here)."

Part of the proposed pandemic exit plan is to just strictly implement health protocols. Concepcion said requiring to show the vaccine booster card in shops in the future may be mandated.

Dizon and Concepcion are confident COVID-19 cases will continue to decline this month and urged the public to get vaccinated, including getting the booster shot as, according to them, it is among the important conditions to exit the pandemic.

The Department of Health on Tuesday reported 9,493 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the first time the nationwide daily tally went below 10,000 for nearly a month.

The country saw a spike in new infections since late December through last month due to the omicron variant.

Pandemic exit, resiliency plan also being looked into -- Palace

The government also deliberates the country's exit plan from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and acting presidential spokesperson said Wednesday.

"We’ve always been talking about that," Nograles said in a television interview when asked if the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is considering the crafting of a pandemic exit plan.

Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID) has its own sub-technical working group (TWG) on recovery, working on resolutions for the gradual reopening of the economy, reviving tourism industries, and resumption of face-to-face classes.

"So may task group kami diyan (we have a task group for that) and they are the ones that are building up and putting the details to this resiliency plan that we have," he said.

"And now, we also have Alert Level 1 that we’re also hoping to be able to implement, and that really puts a premium now in, you know, empowering now the people to do the proper protocols, iyong (the) minimum public health standards because they are already fully vaccinated and many are already boosted,” he added.

Nograles also said the government has yet to hear from the health experts whether the country will treat the Covid-19 like "seasonal flu."

"We have to wait for what the health experts will tell us. Right now, wala pa talagang consensus diyan eh (there is no consensus yet on that)," he said.

The health authorities earlier reported a decline in the country's active cases and even hospitalization rate due to the increasing number of vaccinated individuals in the country.

"So, that shows that the vaccines work. So, many are hopeful but cautious pa rin ‘yung optimism ng lahat (the optimism of everyone). So it’s still a little bit of wait and see, but there’s a hope in seeing this as being more of like a seasonal flu," Nograles said.

In a Laging Handa public briefing on Wednesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said though the government does not yet engage itself with the “endemic” term, the direction is to see “that all of us can live with the virus.”

“But let us try to see first kasi itong endemicity marami pong components ‘yan – kailangan makita natin sustained talaga, iyong nakucontrol na iyong numero ng mga kaso, nakikita natin na marami nang bakunado, nakikita natin iyon pong mga nagkakasakit na mga severe infections hindi na rin po ganoon kadami (because this endemicity has many components – we need to see sustained, controlled number of cases, more people are vaccinated, and fewer severe infections),” she said. (MNS)