According to the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19, it is expected to see a drop in the country’s COVID-19 cases by October or November, once most of the people living in highly urbanized areas like Metro Manila are vaccinated.
The NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. mentioned this downward trend that could possibly be seen once the country has secured more vaccines. The delivery of the said vaccines is expected on the succeeding months.
In the meantime, the government has to resort to implementing public health standards to stop the spread of the disease. “What we’re seeing is once we have vaccinated a majority of the population in highly urbanized cities like Metro Manila, maybe by October or November, we will see the effects… that (cases) will really drop,” Galvez said.
“For now, we should observe minimum health standards,” he added.
The Philippines is currently using the China-made CoronaVac and the British drug maker’s AstraZeneca in its public inoculation. Galvez is also hopeful to have a portfolio of at least seven vaccine brands this year. Also, the vaccine deliveries from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and the US’s Pfizer will start next week which will add an initial 15,000 Sputnik V doses.
Galvez said President Duterte would accept the next batch which has 480,000 doses of Sputnik V, consisting of that was shipped last April 29, along with 500,000 more doses of Sinovac. There are also at least one to two million doses of Sputnik V that are expected to be shipped next month, with two million more expected in June. Sinovac is also expected to deliver two million doses this May and 4.5 million in June. Galvez said that Pfizer, which scheduled vaccines to the country last month were halted due to lack of an indemnity clause. However, this is expected to deliver 195,000 doses by the end of the month.
Galvez is also hopeful that the initial 194,000 doses of Moderna vaccine will arrive next month. He also mentioned that as of the moment, the government is also looking at negotiating for 5 to 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.
The government’s total vaccine budget for this year is P82.5 billion – which was all sourced from the Bayanihan 2 funds, P10 billion; total unprogrammed appropriations at P70 billion, and funds from the Department of Health, P2.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar had explained that they are also allowing the building of essential public and private projects in areas under enhanced community quarantine and modified ECQ.
Villar reiterated that the essential public and private construction projects in ECQ and MECQ areas can continue, as long as these are compliant to Department Order 30, or the revised construction safety procedures for infrastructure projects during the pandemic.
DO 30 specified the allowed essential public and private projects include the construction of quarantine facilities, dormitories or facilities for healthcare workers, vaccination centers, educational facilities, sewerage projects and priority public and private infrastructure projects. Despite of the availability of vaccines, minimum health standards should be complied with such as wearing of face shields and masks, and observing physical distancing.
Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net
Photo Source: peace.gov.ph, reuters.com, mb.com.ph, rappler.com
