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Friday, March 29, 2024

Palace extends state of calamity for 3 more months

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The state of calamity due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be extended for three months, Malacanang said Monday.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has decided to extend the declaration of the calamity state in the Philippines due to the coronavirus disease until the end of the year to preserve its benefits.

Earlier, Mr. Marcos said he was not keen on lifting the state of calamity as the country would lose international support if the declaration were lifted.

“The international medical community, including the WHO (World Health Organization), is supporting countries under a state of calamity. If we lift it, the support will stop as well,” he said.

“We are looking at amending the law in terms of procurement and all of that in the middle of an emergency,” the President added.

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The Philippines recorded 15,379 new COVID-19 cases in the past week, the Department of Health said Monday. From Sept. 5 to 11, the country recorded an average of 2,197 daily infections, 10 percent lower compared to the previous week, according to the latest DOH bulletin.

Of the new infections, 12 or 0.09 percent were severe and critical. As of Sunday, 727 or 9.6 percent of COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the DOH said.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda welcomed the Palace’s decision to extend the state of calamity for the next three months.

But Salceda said the government should also set an official timeline with milestones for the “full reopening” phase.

“Keeping the public health emergency declaration effective will help us bolster our health care system. But we can fully withdraw some of the more restrictive or even militaristic aspects of our anti-COVID-19 measures, such as heavy-handed rules on masking, in favor of a more positive or affirmative approach,” said Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means.

“It would also help us get out of the emergency situation if we can already deal with pandemics on a more institutional level,” he said, pointing to the President’s aim to establish a Center for Disease Control and a Virology Institute.

Meanwhile, former Health secretary and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin recommended a change to the definition of “fully vaccinated” to include the first booster shot under the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

Garin said this would bump up booster intake, which is pegged at only 21.76 percent months after booster shots were made available to the public.

Currently, a Filipino is deemed “fully vaccinated” when he or she has completed the primary series of COVID-19 jabs.

Garin said one reason for the non-acceptance of boosters is that nine out of 10 Filipinos are overconfident about the protection given by the primary series.

She said this was a messaging problem because the government sees them as fully vaccinated after the second vaccine shot.

Garin also said the move to voluntary masking was premature, noting that Singapore and Vietnam implemented the say when their boosted population reached 78 percent.

“If we make wearing of face mask optional this would send a mixed signal, the public would feel that there’s no pandemic anymore and will be more confident not to get booster shots,” she said.

To encourage the public to have their third vaccine, Garin also proposes to incorporate the financial assistance program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the DOH booster program.

These two programs will make it easier to encourage the public to get their booster shot, she said.

Also on Monday, the DOH said it plans to procure second-generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting the old and Omicron variants of the coronavirus by the first quarter of 2023.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire made the announcement during the DOH’s presentation of its proposed P301-billion budget for 2023 before the House committee on appropriations.

“We are already in the process of discussion with manufacturers of new generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting Omicron and the original strain of COVID-19. One manufacturer is finishing registration for approval in the United States, and we are preparing the term sheet,” Vergeire said.

“For another manufacturer, we are working on a non-disclosure agreement. If we are able to proceed with these transactions, we will be able to procure the next generation of COVID-19 vaccine by the first quarter of next year,” she said.

Vergeire also stressed the importance of getting the second generation COVID-19 vaccines, saying the immunity provided by the primary doses of COVID-19 vaccine is already waning.

“The assumption of our experts is that by the end of the year, this [waning immunity] will be progressive among those who do not have a first booster, and this will affect the immunity of our population and increase our admissions in hospitals,” she added.

At the same time, Vergeire said applications for the issuance of emergency use authorization on COVID-19 vaccines for children aged zero to four years old are pending before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Vergeire made this statement after being asked by Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor if the DOH is considering administering COVID-19 vaccines on children aged 0 to 4, given that the two American-made vaccine brands being used in the country under EUA, Pfizer and Moderna, are being used in children below five years old in the US.

“We still don’t have any recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines for children less than five years old,” Vergeire said.

Defensor then called on the DOH to decide in favor of vaccinating children under 5 years old against COVID-19, given that children of that age group account for more than 2 percent of those infected with COVID-19 globally.

“Pfizer and Moderna have been allowed by the [US] FDA and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) for children aged six months and above. I am asking to expedite your policy on this because schools are reopening and [the] mask policy is being relaxed,” Defensor said.

Based on DOH records, there are 93,054 children under 5 years old who got infected with COVID-19—2.39 percent of all the country’s COVID-19 cases so far.

About 72 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far, but only 18 million of these got a booster shot.

Also on Monday, the independent OCTA Research Group said Rizal province is experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 cases with its growth rate increasing from -15 percent to 47 percent in just one week.

OCTA Research fellow Guido David said the 7-day average of COVID-19 infections in Rizal went from 84 as of Aug. 29 to Sept. 4, to 124 cases from Sept. 5 to 11.

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