MALACANANG (28 July 2021) — The National Task Force (NTF) against COVID 19 is determined to scale up the deployment of its vaccine deliveries to meet the growing demand from the general public, as well as the increasing capacities of local government units (LGUs) across the country to inoculate their constituents.
PASIG CITY (28 July 2021) — The Philippines recorded its highest daily vaccination throughput on Tuesday, July 27, with 659,029 jabs administered nationwide. This is the highest vaccination output registered since the national vaccination program was rolled out in March.
QUEZON CITY (27 JULY 2021) — The second batch of health experts from Israel’s Ministry of Health kicked off their weeklong visit here in the Philippines with a meeting on Tuesday with the country’s top COVID-19 task force officials.
NAIA, PASAY CITY (26 JULY 2021) — Another 375,570 doses of American-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived in the Philippines on Monday.
Of these vaccines procured by the national government, 272,610 doses were immediately transported to a cold storage facility in Marikina City.
In the meantime, 51,480 doses were earlier delivered in Cebu City, while 51,480 shots will be shipped to Davao City on Tuesday.
National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr said the latest vaccine shipment will be immediately deployed to the NCR and other areas that are experiencing surges in COVID-19 cases.
“These Pfizer vaccines have arrived just in time, as we face the threat of the more contagious COVID-19 Delta variant,” Galvez said.
“In light of the local transmissions of the Delta variant in the country, we are in a race against time. We need to vaccinate as quickly and widely as possible,” he added.
The vaccine czar likewise urged local government units throughout the country to continue upgrading their cold storage capacities or partner with reputable cold chain providers to prevent the wastage of vaccines.
“We encourage our LGUs to level up their cold storage capacities so that they will be able to receive highly-sensitive vaccines such as Pfizer and at the same time, avoid the spoilage of doses that are deployed to them,” he added.
The first shipment of government-procured Pfizer vaccines consisting of 572,770 doses arrived in the country on July 21.
So far, the country has received 3,410,550 Pfizer doses, including the 2,472,210 shots that were sent by the WHO-led COVAX facility in June.
The latest delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech jabs are part of the 40 million doses the Philippine government secured from the US-based pharmaceutical firm after signing a supply agreement last June 20.
With the arrival of the latest shipment of Pfizer vaccines, the Philippines has received a total of 31,360,700 COVID-19 vaccine doses since February.
Health Undersecretary Carolina Vidal-Taiño and DOH officials welcomed the arrival of the vaccines. END
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, QUEZON CITY (26 JUNE 2021) — As the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, all sectors of society must work together and contribute in preventing the spread of the disease.
This was the message of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, as he highlighted the government’s ongoing pandemic response efforts, while emphasizing the importance of getting the COVID-19 jab.
“We cannot continue living in the shadow of this potent enemy, especially now that science and medicine has proven that it is possible to live with – if not entirely defeat – this virus,” the President said.
“The health and safety protocols we put in place have proven effective in slowing the spread of the virus. But the best solution is still vaccination,” he added.
The President urged local chief executives to ramp up their vaccination efforts in order to provide their constituents a greater level of protection against the disease.
“With the continuous [arrival] of COVID-19 vaccines, we are ready to boost further our daily vaccination rate. I am also encouraging our local government units to hasten their roll out and strengthen their inoculation program,” he said.
Duterte also appealed to the public to get inoculated as soon as they can, as he asked for patience among those who are still waiting in line to get the jab.
“I implore our countrymen who are now in the list of sectors to be inoculated to get vaccinated now. To those who received their first doses, please return for your second shot,” Duterte said.
“I also ask for patience to those who are next in line to receive their vaccine. More and more COVID-19 vaccines are arriving each week and you will soon have your turn,” he added.
Whole-of-Nation Approach against the virus
According to the President, the country would not have survived the ongoing pandemic were it not for the bayanihan sprit exhibited by all sectors of society.
In particular, Duterte thanked the Congress for the critical legislation they passed in support of the government’s COVID-19 response measures.
“We moved quickly to safeguard the well-being of every Filipino through preventive and responsive health and safety measures, and broad and inclusive social amelioration programs or SAP,” the President stressed.
“Thanks to the support of Congress, we launched the most extensive Social Protection Program in our country’s history, with the passage of Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2,” he said.
“With the help of Congress, we passed 13 measures that established new (facilities) and improved the capacity of existing hospitals around the country to provide quality care and services to our people, especially amid the ongoing (COVID-19 pandemic),” Duterte added.
Duterte noted that the country’s “national health system and resilience were tested to the hilt,” yet the government was able to quickly respond to the challenges posed by COVID-19.
These interventions included the establishment of over 260 accredited COVID-19 testing laboratories, capable of conducting 50,000 tests a day.
Over 9,000 temporary treatment and monitoring facilities were also set up nationwide, with a total bed capacity of over 140,000.
“Together with local governments and the private sector, we quickly established mega quarantine facilities that could accommodate more cases,” Duterte said.
“Modular hospitals and quarantine facilities have also been established nationwide, especially in Metro Manila,” he added.
Taking care of the people
With the recent heavy rains experienced across the country due to the southwest monsoon, the President called on local government units to ensure the health and safety of the people who line up in vaccination sites.
“You should look for a gym, at bigyan mo lahat ng tao ng number,” Duterte said, without mentioning specific LGUs.
“Corollary to this, it is high time that clear, precise and uniform protocols and guidelines are issued in anticipation of the vaccination of more Filipinos and the steady reopening of our society,” he added.
As of July 26, the country has already received 31,360,700 vaccine doses coming from six vaccine makers.
As of July 25, 6,089,314 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, while 11,113,107 individuals have already received their first dose.
In response to the President’s SONA, Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., vaccine czar and National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer, remains confident that the current trajectory of the government’s vaccination throughput will continue to go up.
“I believe we are on track to realizing our goal of achieving population protection within this year. With the steady arrival of our vaccine supplies, we can continue to expand our vaccination program to cover a larger segment of the population,” Galvez said.
The vaccine czar also echoed the President’s views on learning to live with the virus.
“It will take some time before we can completely eradicate COVID-19. Hence, we must develop a mindset on how we can live with the virus as we gradually open up our economy. This means that we always have to be mindful of our safety and the safety of everyone around us,” Galvez said.
“Even if a person is fully vaccinated, minimum public health standards must still be strictly followed and enforced,” he added. END
PASIG CITY (23 JULY 2021) — The Philippines achieved another milestone in its national vaccination program on Thursday, July 22, with the administration of 472,356 anti-COVID jabs nationwide, the highest the country has registered so far.
With this development, 5,560,029 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, while 10,866,238 doses have been given as the first dose.
“We are now past the crawl and walk stages, as we gradually run towards our goal of inoculating half a million Filipinos per day this quarter. This is a preview of better things to come in the remaining six months of 2021,” said National Task Force (NTF) against COVID 19 Chief Implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito G. Galvez Jr.
“Despite the inclement weather, our implementing units have remained resilient and are committed to inoculating more Filipinos. We are grateful to all frontliners in the government and the private sector who continue to serve the public despite the many challenges we continue to face,” Galvez added.
The NTF earlier announced that with the continuous arrival of vaccine supplies, including the donated one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the government will focus on protecting the most vulnerable sectors, particularly senior citizens (A2) and persons with comorbidities (A3).
In its latest report, the task force said the country’s vaccine throughput for the A2 and A3 priority groups continue to go up.
Out of the 16.4 million total jabs administered since the vaccine program started, 2.8 million were given as the first dose to senior citizens, while 1.4 million doses were given to them as the second shot.
Meanwhile, 3.5 million doses were administered to the A3 group as the first dose, while 1.8 million of the sector’s members are now fully vaccinated.
“Nakatutuwang makita na pataas nang pataas ang tiwala at kumpyansa ng ating mga mamamayan, lalung-lalo na ang ating mga senior citizens at may mga sakit at kapansanan sa mga bakuna laban COVID 19,” said NTF Deputy Chief Implementer and testing czar Secretary Vivencio Dizon.
“The upward trajectory of our daily vaccination output in all priority sectors says so many things in the ongoing program — our vaccine supply inventory is expanding and the vaccine confidence of the Filipino people is increasing. We want to keep this trend as we aim for 750,000 daily jabs in the next quarter,” Dizon added.
Vaccine supply
As of July 23, the Philippines has received a total of 30,985,130 doses of anti-COVID vaccines from different manufacturers.
The bulk of the supplies the country has received to date, consisting of 13.5 million doses, were delivered this July.
According to the vaccine czar, around six million doses are still expected to arrive in the last week of the month.
Vaccine deliveries to the country, he pointed out, have been steadily going up monthly since February when only 600,000 doses were delivered.
All in all, the Philippines has been able to secure a total of 164 million anti-COVID vaccine doses for 2021.
These vaccines were acquired through procurement by the national government, private sector and local government units, while the rest were sourced from the COVAX facility and bilateral donations.
An additional 26 million doses are still being negotiated by the national government with various vaccine makers to ensure that the country would have a stable supply in 2022, as the government prepares to vaccinate its pediatric sector.
Threat of Delta variant
With the confirmed local transmission of the Delta variant in the country, Galvez called on the public to do their share in protecting their family members and communities against the highly transmissible variant of COVID 19.
“The best way to stop and limit the spread of the Delta variant, along with getting the vaccine, is diligently complying with minimum public health standards – mask, hugas, iwas. If possible, put on double masks. We need to be more conscious because the virus continues to mutate. Kailangan mas paigtingin pa natin ang ating pagprotekta sa ating mga sarili,” said Galvez.
“Protecting our health is a shared responsibility. This is not just about protecting yourselves. Ito ang panahon ng pakikipagkapwa-tao. This is protecting everyone in your home, in your workplace, and everyone you interact with everyday like drivers, supermarket personnel, and co-commuters,” he added.
Amid the surge in cases in the ASEAN region caused by the Delta variant, the vaccine czar asked the public to be mindful and take extra precautions.
“At this point where many countries are now being devastated again by COVID 19, especially our neighbors in the ASEAN region, we need to empathize with them and show solidarity. This is a global crisis and we are battling the same enemy,” Galvez emphasized. END
NAIA, PASAY CITY — There is no let up in the deliveries of vaccines and the inoculations of Filipinos day and night, rain or shine, Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, said as the country ramps up its vaccine program amid the threat of the Delta variant.
QUEZON CITY – The Philippines will have a “steady supply” of anti-COVID 19 vaccines in the next six months, as the national government has secured 164 million doses through procurement while sourcing additional shots from the COVAX facility and bilateral donations.
CAMP AGUINALDO, QUEZON CITY — Over the past five years, the Duterte Administration has been relentless in pushing forward the comprehensive Philippine peace process and realizing the commitments made by the national government under all signed peace agreements. (more…)
