THE National Task Force against the Coronavirus Disease (NTF COVID-19) yesterday encouraged local government officials in areas with a surge in COVID-19 cases to conduct a more aggressive prevent, detect, isolate, treat, and reintegrate (PDITR) strategy while they await the delivery of vaccines.
“DOH and (Department of Health) and the vaccine czar has given their assurances that there will be equitable distribution in “center of gravity” areas or surge areas. They are highly encouraged to conduct aggressive PDITR and request the national government for whatever needs they require so that the NG (national government) can assist them,” said NTF spokesman Restituto Padilla.
The government has repeatedly urged LGUs to intensify their implementation of the PDITR strategy to better identify and isolate those with COVID-19 and those who have been exposed to patients, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and provide the patients with treatment until they are better and able to rejoin society.
Iloilo City Mayor Gerry Treñas, on Sunday, appealed for assistance from the national government as some of their hospitals are now being overwhelmed due to the high number of COVID-19 cases.
Aside from equipment and personnel, Treñas is asking for more vaccines.
He said this is the situation not just in Iloilo City but also in the rest of the Western Visayas (Region 6) due to the rising COVID-19 cases.
Treñas said some of their constituents could not help but feel left out as more of the vaccines are being deployed in the NCR+8 area due to the previous surge in cases and being the center of economy.
NCR+8 is composed of the National Capital Region (Metro Manila), Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao.
Padilla said no one is being left out.
He said DOH already announced that 60 percent of the vaccines that arrived in the past days would be deployed to the areas with COVID surge or the “centers of gravity.”
The government on Thursday and Friday received 3.2 million doses of vaccines from China’s Sinovac, 2.2 million from Pfizer under the COVAX Facility, and 11,100,000 doses from Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute.
The government launched the national vaccination program on March 1 and it has so far received 12.7 million doses of procured and donated vaccines.
NTF chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country is expecting at least 11 million more doses of vaccines this month from Sinovac, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
The government is eyeing to vaccinate 25-30 million individuals with the first dose by the end of August and complete the first dose of the economic and government frontliners (A4 vaccine category) by mid-September or early October.
The National Economic and Development Authority said 35.5 million Filipinos belong to the A4 category.
The country aims to vaccinate 50 million to 70 million Filipinos by the end of the year.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, on Saturday night, said Filipinos leaving for abroad are not required to be fully vaccinated.
He made the clarification after the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) posted on its Facebook page that Filipinos travelling out of the country must have had two doses and should undergo verification and present a certification that they have been vaccinated.
“That’s wrong,” he said of the now-deleted post.
The Interagency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases earlier approved guidelines for inbound international travel to any port in the country, which requires a fully vaccinated individual to present their vaccination card and a government-issued certificate showing the person’s last vaccine dose.
All inbound fully vaccinated individuals are required to undergo a seven-day facility-based quarantine upon arrival, and shall only be tested for COVID-19 if he manifests symptoms during his stay in the facility.
After completing the seven-day facility-based quarantine, the Bureau of Quarantine shall issue a quarantine certificate indicating the individual’s vaccination status.
Health Undersecretary and treatment czar Leopoldo Vega said only 2 million of the country’s 109.4 million population have been fully vaccinated.
“We have only fully vaccinated around 2 percent of our population. That is far from our target before the end of the year on vaccination from 50 to 70 percent of our population,” Vega told radio dzBB in mixed Filipino and English.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon yesterday said government must provide a consolidated accounting of the P82.5-billion COVID-19 vaccine procurement budget before it asks for an additional P25 billion fund to buy more vaccines this year.
Drilon, in an interview over dzBB, said doing so will boost public confidence that the funds are well spent especially as the election season approaches.
“These are not small amounts. We need transparency in government spending. This is public money. Inutang po natin ito (We borrowed it). Transparency is critical in the success of the vaccination program,” Drilon said.
The 2021 General Appropriations Act earmarked P72.5 billion for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, but only P2.5 billion is funded, while the P70 billion is unfunded. Another P10 billion us allocated under the Bayanihan 2 making the total vaccine budget at P82.5 billion. — With Ashzel Hachero and Raymond Africa