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Friday, March 29, 2024

Children 10-14 must stay indoors, Rody rules

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President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday revoked the Inter-Agency Task Force's decision last week to allow children aged 10 to 14 years old to leave their homes in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in a bid to stimulate the economy.

Duterte said this was due to the United Kingdom variant of the coronavirus that had been detected in several patients in the country.

“Balik ho kayo sa bahay muna… Pasensya na po kayo. Mine is just a precaution. Takot lang ako kasi itong bagong strain strikes the young children,” the President said in his weekly national address.

“Napilitan akong i-reimpose ‘yung [restrictions on] 10 to 14. Not at this time. It’s a sacrifice for the parents and for the children,” Duterte said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque had announced last week that minors aged 10 to 14 in MGCQ areas would be allowed to go out starting February 1. Previously, only those 15 to 65 years old were allowed to leave their homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Scientists in the United Kingdom earlier said the new coronavirus variant initially discovered there may be more capable of infecting children.

The new variant is largely believed to be more transmissible, with experts still confirming whether it can make COVID-19 deadlier.

The Philippines has so far recorded 17 COVID-19 cases with the UK variant, 12 of whom are in Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health said it would not recommend the extension of the mandatory quarantine period for travelers to 21 days like what Macau did in December, even as the Philippines detected additional cases of the new and more transmissible COVID-19 variant.

“I don’t think so,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a virtual briefing. “According to our experts and evidence states mode of transmission is still the same. Incubation period is still the same.”

Instead, protocols on quarantine and contact tracing must be strengthened, Vergeire said, and local government units should ensure that travelers comply with the 14-day quarantine period.

No sites yet for vaccine trials

The Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday that it was waiting for the validation study of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) before approving the saliva COVID-19 testing in other laboratories aside from the Philippine Red Cross.

The non-government organization was set to begin later Monday the use of the cheaper and less invasive COVID-19 test in its three molecular laboratories in Metro Manila.

The saliva COVID-19 test is priced at P2,000, which may decrease if the volume of tests goes up, said Dr. Paulyn Ubial, head of PRC molecular laboratories.

The result of the method, which only requires a person to drool into a sterile vial, may be released after three hours, the PRC said.

She said the PRC can process 8,000 of such tests daily, and added that the tests will be rolled out in provincial laboratories by next month.

No sites yet for vaccine trials

Clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines from Sinovac, Janssen, and Clover have yet to be scheduled as the government is still identifying sites for them, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

DOH spokesperson Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the clarification three days after the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevarra said that the three vaccine makers already have a target list of clinical trial sites which include areas in Laguna, Metro Manila, Iloilo, Cavite, and Bacolod City.

Vergeire said that the DOST is still talking to the vaccine makers’ partner contract research organizations (CROs) in the Philippines to ensure that sites for their clinical trials will not duplicate the areas dedicated for the World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Trial of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

The CROs have not given a list because they are still discussing and studying it, Vergeire said.

She added that Sinovac had submitted a site, but it was returned because it was the same as the sites of the WHO Solidarity Trial.

FDA says it is thorough, not slow

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday said they are being thorough in approving emergency use applications of COVID-19 vaccines, and denied claims it was moving too slowly.

The FDA has so far given only one emergency use authorization (EUA), to US drugmaker Pfizer.

The usual process takes six months up to a year, FDA director-general Eric Domingo said.

"This is the fastest we've ever done anything. I think an emergency use authorization within 21 days is very fast, very efficient. It might take longer for applicants that do not have an EUA from stringent regulatory authorities and we want to take a look at the data closely. It’s not being slow, it’s being thorough," Domingo said in an interview on ANC's Matters of Fact.

"They think everything depends on the FDA EUA but really it’s the supply chain and procurement process. We gave the EUA to Pfizer two weeks ago but it’s not yet here. The FDA EUA [is not] the reason we don’t have the vaccine yet. It’s a worldwide shortage,” he said.

Priorities just expanded, not changed

Malacanang on Monday said that President Rodrigo Duterte did not change the vaccine priority list but just expanded it to recognize the sacrifice of the military.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Palace will leave to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to “operationalize” the wishes of President Duterte to include the families of soldiers in the priority list of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program.

“There is no change in prioritization. He is only expanding the list to include families of soldiers and that’s out of recognition on the part of the President that men in uniform’s job is important because theirs is maintenance of peace and order in our society,” Roque said during a press briefing. Willie Casas, Vito Barcelo, and Macon Ramos-Araneta

“I believe this will be implemented, but this will be up to the IATF,” he added.

Lacson questions pricing data Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday asked the Department of Health who fed them the “unreasonable prices” for Sinovac vaccines that they used in their computations, unhappy with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's explanation that they merely “Googled” the price.

"Unverified reports that some shenanigans working behind the scene might have fed the DOH the unreasonably high price of the Sinovac vaccine could lend credence to the attempt to dupe the Filipino taxpayers even during a pandemic," he said.As early as Oct. 14, 2020, Lacson said it was reported that the price of Sinovac vaccines in Indonesia was about P683 per dose. This was a far cry from the P3,629 for two doses that the DOH quoted to the Senate finance committee last year for budget deliberations.

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