The government retained Metro Manila and several other areas under Alert 1 even as the country recorded an increase in COVID-19 related deaths in the past two months, with unvaccinated people accounting for at least 63 percent of the fatalities, the Department of Health said Saturday.
The provinces of Occidental Mindoro and Camarines Sur, and municipalities of Poro, Cebu; Talalora, Western Samar; Pualas, Lanao del Sur; and Binidayan, Lanao del Sur have likewise been de-escalated to Alert Level 1, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said.
“Based on IATF-EID metrics, these areas were able to de-escalate by maintaining their case classification and total beds utilization rates at low risk, and reaching or nearing the vaccination thresholds for target population and target A2 (senior citizens) priority group,” the DOH said.
The country on Saturday logged 3,715 new COVID-19 infections.
The DOH also reported 4,753 new recovering, resulting in a decrease in active cases at 36,146.
However, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said there was only an average of one death per day last June.
“There is an observed increase in the number of deaths over these past months. In June, we were averaging one death per day. Now, we recorded this July, we NCR…averaged eight deaths per day. It was similar last August, we saw nine deaths per day this time,” Vergeire said.
She said based on the DOH’s July 1 to August 14 data, at least 63 percent of the fatalities were those who were unvaccinated.
“We want to remind our fellow Filipinos that there is a higher probability that they may get a severe infection and die if they don’t get vaccinated,” Vergeire said.
Despite this, the Palace clarified that giving a second booster of the COVID-19 vaccine to over 72.1 million fully-vaccinated individuals is not a solution to address wastage.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles echoed Vergeire’s statement that the second booster or fourth dose was not for everyone.
“This is related to what the DOH has said that administering a second booster to all is not a solution to address the issue of COVID-19 vaccine wastage,” Cruz-Angeles said.
“Giving a second booster to other priority groups is still being studied to ensure everyone’s protection against COVID-19,” she said.
As of Aug. 12, a total of 20,660,354 COVID vaccines were wasted, the DOH reported on Monday.
The emergency use authorization issued by the Food and Drug Administration only allows individuals who are 50 years old and above, as well as those from 18 to 49 age group that have comorbidities, to receive a second booster.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the only brands that could be used as a second booster shot.
Eligible individuals can only receive the second booster at least four months after being inoculated with the first booster.
As of Aug. 14, around 17,015,413 of the 72,107,090 fully-vaccinated individuals have received an additional dose of vaccine.
