Malacañang thanked the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (Aug. 26) for its appreciation of the country’s national vaccination program, particularly on the vaccine coverage for healthcare workers and senior citizens.
On Aug. 25, WHO Western Pacific Reg. Dir. Dr. Takeshi Kasai said the “Philippine government has been putting a significant effort in vaccinations,” as the coverage for A1 and A2 groups reached 95% and over 46%, respectively.
The Philippines has already administered 31,433,450 COVID-19 vaccine doses, and 13,371,734 of which are second doses.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in his briefing that this is one of the pieces of evidence that the government is doing well against COVID-19, despite unavoidable criticisms and amid questions on the government’s pandemic response.
In a statement on Feb. 1, WHO Country Rep. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said he believes the country has “a very good comprehensive plan,” but expressed concern on the challenges faced during the rollout.
Meanwhile, Roque said he will ask the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for an explanation on the health department’s remark on the StaySafe contact tracing application.
New quarantine
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will discuss today the new quarantine classifications to be imposed in September.
He said it is possible only granular lockdowns will be implemented instead of quarantine restrictions.
“Antayin po natin ang mga pronouncements ng IATF ‘no. We are moving towards the direction na dahil ang LGUs [local government units] naman talaga ang nakakaalam kung nasaan iyong mga areas,” he said.
“Papunta tayo roon ‘no, pero wala pa pong detalye. It’s a principle that has been approved as a principle, pero the details hindi pa po na-approve,” he added.
Meanwhile, several IATF members are expected to prepare a presentation regarding the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes “to help the President make a decision.” – Report from Mela Lesmoras/AG-rir
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