DOH-7: Fully vaccinated persons should still wear facemasks

CEBU, Philippines —  While the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States has allowed fully vaccinated people not to wear a facemask, the Department of Health in Central Visayas has said replicating such directive here is still “too premature.”

Department of Health-7 COVID-19 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche recommended that fully vaccinated individuals should still continue wearing facemasks and observe other health protocols “until everyone is already vaccinated.”

CDC was reported as saying that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a facemask or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings, whether outdoors or indoors.

It, however, added that wearing a facemask will still be needed in a healthcare setting, public transportation or at a business that requires them.

“I think CDC, when it released the statement that those that have been fully vaccinated can already go around without wearing their facemask, that is premature,” Loreche said.

Although US has already vaccinated 34% of its population, Loreche commented that it is not enough to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Being vaccinated doesn’t mean you can no longer be infected,” she said. “Vaccines can prevent the severity of the disease or death.”

Loreche said that even if the Philippines will achieve the targeted 70% of the population to be fully vaccinated, it still is not excuse for not wearing a mask.

“Sa atin, target is about 70% of the total population. Even if we achieve 70%, hindi pa rin. Let’s put in place muna the health protocols, including using facemask until tanan mabakunahan,” she said.

Loreche said that while CDC’s issuance may be a good development, prevention is always better than cure.

“Happy unta ta no nga di na ta mag-facemask, but it’s gonna be a difficult journey for us. Basin mobalik that surge ana niya,” she said.

Masterlist

In a related development, DOH-7 continues to urge people in Central Visayas to have themselves masterlisted for vaccination either in their respective local government units or at the Project Balik Buhay for employees in private companies.

“No masterlisting, no vaccines,” Loreche said, explaining it is the only way to be vaccinated as the agency is targetting to vaccinate 70 percent of the population in the region by yearend.

Loreche said the reason why some local government units get smaller vaccine allocations is because the masterlist they submitted only contains a small number of individuals.

“The allocation is computed based on the masterlist submitted,” she said.

“We are assuring everyone that there will be equitable distribution of our vaccines based on the masterlisting,” she added.

Loreche said that 52,800 doses of Sinovac arrived in Cebu yesterday morning and these will be allocated to the different LGUs and vaccination centers in Central Visayas.

She added that the distribution of this new batch of vaccines will be made known once inventory is finished.

“We can't distribute if the previous doses are still on stock,” she said. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, JMD (FREEMAN)