The government plans to expand vaccination sites in the Philippines to also include public and private clinics hoping to get more Filipinos vaccinated against COVID-19, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Tuesday.
Duque, during an interview with Super Radyo dzBB, said health authorities were currently coordinating with the Philippine Medical Association regarding this initiative as part of the previously-launched “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” in January.
“We are already talking to the Philippine Medical Association. One of the strategies we will implement is that these clinics, both public and private clinics, will be opened as vaccination sites,” he said.
“If you remember, two weeks or three weeks ago, we launched Resbakuna sa Botika. Now, we are expanding its access even to clinics in communities so that it will be easier for anyone who wants to get vaccinated to get the jab and this will also help increase our vaccination coverage,” Duque said.
There were seven pharmacies and private clinics in Metro Manila that participated in the initiative’s pilot run on January 20.
Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon of National Task Force Against COVID-19 earlier said the “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” would greatly assist the local government units and the Department of Health to add more personnel to vaccinate against the viral disease. It will also help decentralize the vaccinations more instead of just being focused on big vaccination sites in certain areas.
On Monday, the DOH reported that over 63.6 million individuals or 70.76 percent of the government’s target population are also fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Meanwhile, 10.5 million have received their booster shots.
The Philippines is eyeing to fully vaccinate 77 million Filipinos against COVID-19 by the end of March, and 90 million by the time Duterte steps down from office on June 30.
Hospitalization rates
COVID-19 hospitalization rates in Metro Manila are now plateauing and COVID-related calls to the country’s hospital referral system are lowering, the country’s treatment czar said on Tuesday.
According to Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, head of the One Hospital Command Center, occupancy of intensive care units in the capital region is “plateauing” at around 19 percent to “20 plus percent rate.”
As of Monday, the occupancy rate of COVID-19 ward beds nationwide was at 18.4 percent or 4,543 out of 24,678 beds utilized, the Department of Health said.
ICU occupancy rate nationwide was at 25.7 percent or 807 out of 3,138 beds utilized, the DOH said.
2nd booster
The National Vaccination Operations Center has been working on administering a second COVID-19 booster shot for senior citizens and immunocompromised, the National Task Force deputy chief implementer said on Tuesday.
When asked during a joint press conference with the Philippine Medical Association if the proposed second booster shot for these groups would become a policy, NTF deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said, “Yes, we fully support the recommendations of the Vaccine Expert Panel. From the very beginning, we have been working with VEP very closely.”
Dizon said the government still prioritized inoculating the unvaccinated and giving first boosters to senior citizens, as he also acknowledged the importance of a second booster for these groups.
Critically ill
The Department of Health revealed that 1,055 or 16.1 percent of COVID-19 patients seeking treatment currently in hospitals were “severe” and “critical” cases.
The DOH, in the first release of its new weekly COVID-19 bulletin, said intensive care unit bed utilization rate nationwide stood at 25.7 percent or 807 out of 3,138 ICU beds.
The DOH said that from March 1 to 7, the country logged 6,297 new cases, or an average of 899 per day, which is 30 percent lower than the cases reported from Feb. 22 to 28.
Of the additional cases during the week, three were severe and critical.
The DOH said Sunday the country’s cumulative total of confirmed infections has reached 3,667,542, of which 48,793 were active.
During the past week, 615 deaths were verified by the agency, broken down as follows in terms of occurrence: 39 in March; 195 in February; 104 in January, and the rest, between March 2020 and December 2021.
Decline by 500
The Philippines’ daily virus cases might decline to 500 by the end of the month even as its downward trend was slowing, according to Guido David, fellow of OCTA Research Group.
“We’re expecting this to continue to decline by the end of March. It might be only a few hundreds, 300 to 500, just like what we saw in December last year before omicron entered the country,” David said in a televised public briefing.
The revised COVID-19 bulletin, meanwhile, indicated that nearly 63.7 million people have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory disease, of whom some 10.5 million have already received their booster shots.
The total accounts for 70.76 percent of the target population for inoculation.
Super health centers
Senator Christopher Go once again called for the establishment of super health centers across the country to improve the access of Filipinos to government health services, particularly in rural areas.
“I am pushing for the establishment of super health centers in different parts of the country. These centers intend to bring the government’s medical services to our people especially in far flung areas,” stressed the chairperson of the Senate health committee.
Through this, patients no longer need to go to big hospitals which are usually located in big cities.
The super health center, Go said, is a medium version of a polyclinic and an improved version of the rural health unit. It will have a land area of 514.3 square meters as initially planned.
The proposed centers will have the following services: lab facilities, pharmacy, birthing facilities, out-patient department, dental services, comprehensive PhilHealth out-patient department, and other minor services.
The senator also suggested that these super health centers be used as satellite vaccination sites for those Filipinos who live far from the urban centers.
Health care system
The senator added that the budget for the creation of some of the centers had been allotted, saying, “There is a P3.587 billion budget for the construction of 305 Super Health Centers in the 2022 budget under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program. P2.031 billion here was allocated for infrastructure and P1.556 equipment.”
The construction and equipping of these centers will be under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health.
“It is critical to reinforce our current health centers not just to meet health requirements of individuals or families, but also to tackle public health issues and the demands of the community,” said Go.
“People in their communities are entitled to the best possible treatment. These centers will be able to meet their healthcare needs, which include the prevention of diseases, provision of treatment, as well as palliative care and health promotion,” he continued.
