By Mark Fetalco
The World Health Organization (WHO) said there is a possibility of an ongoing limited community transmission of the Delta variant in some regions of the country.
WHO Country Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in the Laging Handa briefing today (Aug. 3) that the Philippines should prepare additional oxygen supplies in anticipation of a possible spike in COVID-19 cases.
“I cannot exclude the fact that there is limited community transmission in some places because we have very limited capacity for whole genome sequencing. So maybe there is community transmission,” Abeyasinghe said.
The Department of Health (DOH) said in the Palace briefing today that there is sufficient oxygen tank supply for the country, but added that the Delta variant “will require twice as much as what you are requiring for oxygen.”
“So ngayon, tumaas ang requirement natin to almost 600 tons ang kinakailangan natin at nai-communicate naman natin ‘yan sa ating producers ng oxygen, pati sa mga oxygen generation plants natin sa bansa,” DOH USec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
National Vaccination Operations Center data show that only about 32.5% of A2 sector and 48.4% of A3 sector have been fully vaccinated. With this, the DOH allowed walk-in vaccinations during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period for the elderly.
The DOH targets to administer 12 million doses for August, including five million doses for senior citizens. This is in line with the expected delivery of 22.7 million doses for the said month.
To date, the Philippines has already administered 21,210,129 vaccine doses covering 11,840,504 individuals for the first dose and 9,369,625 for the second dose.
Due to the Delta threat, the government said it is studying the possibility of raising its vaccine coverage target to 70%.
“Kung mag-80% ka, ibig sabihin, we will have immunization for those below 18 years old. Pinag-aaralan pa yan. We are cognizant of the fact that we really need to increase our targets but we will need to look at our vaccine supply,” DOH USec. Myrna Cabotaje said. – AG-rir
Watch full report here:
