DOH cites low vaccination in areas under Alert 2

MANILA, Philippines — Despite being low risk for COVID-19, 57 areas in the country were placed under Alert Level 2 until mid-April because of their low vaccination rates, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said yesterday.

“In terms of those 57 areas which were not yet de-escalated, they have yet to achieve the target for vaccination that’s why we still cannot de-escalate to Alert Level 1,” Vergeire said at a Malacañang press briefing.

“So that means they are all qualified (to be lowered to Alert Level 1) in terms of the number of cases. So, (if we used these two metrics) all are qualified (for Alert Level 1). But the other metric, which is the vaccination, that’s what we are considering and we’re all trying to work on,” she said.

“Always remember, in order for us to be able to ensure that the population will be adequately protected in spite of easing restrictions, vaccination should be high so that people are protected,” Vergeire said.

She added that all areas in the country are classified as “low to minimal risk” for COVID-19, and low risk in terms of hospital bed utilization.

Metro Manila and nearly 200 other areas will remain under the most lenient Alert Level 1 until April 15.

Meanwhile, Vergeire appealed to church leaders to avoid activities that will increase risks of transmitting the virus after the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, popularly known as Quiapo Church, resumed the traditional “pahalik” for devotees starting yesterday.

“We appeal to our churches, if possible, maybe we can work with them to prevent these kinds of activities that can have increased risk of transmitting infection to our citizens,” she said.

Vergeire advised devotees who touch religious images to wash their hands and avoid touching their mouth and nose.

Vaccine arrivals

Some 936,000 adult-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines procured by the Philippine government through the World Bank arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 Thursday aboard Air Hong Kong flight D456 from the COVAX Facility.

Another batch of 430,560 pediatric Pfizer doses, also government procured through the WB, were set to arrive last night at NAIA 3 on an Air Hong Kong flight.

All vaccine deliveries were pre-cleared by customs NAIA last March 31 after proper documents were presented. The jabs were then immediately transported to cold storage in Parañaque City under guard by a Customs-NAIA team. – Rudy Santos