The Philippines stands to receive some four million syringes that will be used to administer COVID-19 vaccinations, the National Vaccination Operation Center said yesterday.

Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. the company at the center of the Senate investigation into alleged multibillion-peso corruption in the government procurement of COVID-19 supplies – may have made “ghost deliveries” of face masks, face shields and personal protective equipment worth at least P3 billion last year, senators said yesterday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque has joined in the mass hysteria over the COVID-19 Omicron variant, by proposing to return the mandatory wearing of face shields over face masks.

The OCTA Research Group yesterday said the National Capital Region may now be considered as “very low risk” following the continuing improvement of various COVID-19 indicators, including the number of new cases.

The entire country is under Alert Level 2, the second most lenient classification under the five-level COVID-19 alert system, until Dec. 15, Malacañang said yesterday.