Philippine government to implement door-to-door and mobile vaccination

Philippine vaccine chief Carlito Galvez reported on Monday night that the national government will shift its focus to door-to-door and mobile vaccination campaigns, while stepping up needle injection activities.

He explained that since the country has reached an inflection point, the daily vaccination rate has dropped sharply from the previous million doses to less than 500,000 doses per day.

The official reported to President Duterte at the time: "Our vaccination center has reached a saturation point or an inflection point. We now need to visit villages and provide vaccination services door to door to increase the daily vaccination rate again."

According to official data, more than 62.5 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against the new crown, accounting for 69% of the government's 90 million target. In addition, more than 9.7 million people have been vaccinated with booster vaccines.

In addition, the authorities will continue to pay attention to the remaining 3 million elderly and comorbid groups who have not yet been vaccinated against the new crown.

At the same time, higher human vaccination coverage has been achieved in all administrative regions of the country, except for Bicol District, Karaga District, Mimaropa Administrative Region (Mimaropa), Sokosk Sargen District (Soccsksargen) and the Autonomous Region of Samoro, the Muslim State of Mindanao (BMRMM).

Philippine infectious disease expert: now is a "good time" to turn to the new normal"

Rontgene Solante, a member of the Philippine vaccine team and infectious disease expert, said on Monday that it was a good time to downgrade to the first level of epidemic alert or the "new normal.

Solant said: "Now, I personally think it is a good time to downgrade to the first level of alert. However, we also need to emphasize that the downgrade to the first level of alert or the new normal does not mean that everything has returned to normal, we still need to wear masks and comply with basic health and quarantine measures."

The expert attributed the recent low and increasing number of cases in the Philippines to the country's vaccination efforts.

He added: "Vaccination is a big event. Our vaccination rate has increased, and many people have received booster injections, especially among our vulnerable groups. Cases in hospitals are declining, and most of the confirmed cases belong to the unvaccinated population."

In the fourth quarter of this year, he expressed the hope that there will be no more new cases in the country and that masks will no longer be mandatory.

Tony Leachon, a health expert and former government adviser, urged the national government to weigh the situation before easing the epidemic restrictions, saying: "We should slow down and set a timetable first."

Citing the standards of the World Health Organization, the expert said that a country must meet several indicators before lifting the restrictions, including controlled virus transmission, stable health care systems, rapid and effective preventive measures, convenient and affordable testing, and hospitals with sufficient capacity.

He added: "If we become careless and approach the alert level too quickly, we may experience what is happening in Denmark. Two weeks ago, Denmark announced a surge in cases after the lifting of restrictions, while cases in neighboring countries and regions of the Philippines, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, are also surging."