By Pearl Gumapos
According to testing czar Sec. Vince Dizon, the country is currently facing a shortage of vaccine, the main hindrance to the government’s goal of population protection.
“Ang pinakamalaking hamon pa rin natin ay supply,” Dizon said on Monday (Aug. 9) in a Malacañang public briefing.
“At ito’y hamon ng hindi lang ng Pilipinas, kundi hamon ng buong mundo, lalong-lalo na ‘yung mga bansa na hindi nagma-manufacture ng sarili nilang bakuna tulad ng Pilipinas. Pero kung tayo ay may sapat na supply, ay kakayanin po natin. Basta may supply,” he added.
Moreover, Dizon said the Department of Health has released three million jabs to Metro Manila starting last week.
“Mayroong lang po hinintay na certificate of analysis documents ang ating Food and Drug Administration para magamit ‘yung Sinovac,” Dizon said.
As for testing, the country is now at 57,000 to 58,000 COVID-19 tests per day.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the “family lockdown” is expected to contribute to the decline of COVID-19 cases.
“Dahil nga po inatasan natin ang ating mga hepe ng pamilya na mag-declare ng household lockdown, inaasahan natin na ang ECQ ay magdudulot ng mas mababang numero pagdating sa nahahawa ng COVID-19,” Roque said.
“Ito po ay magbibigay ng pagkakataon para mapalawak po natin ang ating critical care capacity, at inaasahan po natin ang resulta pagkatapos ng two weeks,” Roque added. -rir
