More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Vaccine procurement has been a challenge but the Philippines seem dead set on ordering one from China. But their is a problem. It's only 50% effective!
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/24/20/acceptable-for-chinese-covid-19-vaccine-to-have-50-percent-efficacy-dost |
The reported 50-percent efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine from China's Sinovac is "acceptable" as this is the minimum requirement for use, the Department of Science and Technology said on Thursday.
“The 50-percent efficacy is acceptable because that is the minimum requirement set by the World Health Organization for a vaccine to be used by the country,” said Jaime Montoya, executive director of the DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development.
“We have to also bear in mind that the vaccine efficacy may actually change, it may go up or it may go down, as more and more people are using it when they are actually rolled out,” he said.
The reported efficacy is for "overall" participants and could be higher "if we actually break them down into groups," he said.
“Maybe it is more effective in a particular group of people – maybe health care workers, maybe in the elderly, maybe with those with co-existing morbidity so we have to look at them,” Montoya said. “So we have to also look at where they are actually going to be most useful, in what group, before we can actually make a decision.”
“Until such time na na-review natin ang (that we review) data, we cannot make any conclusion,” he added.
Other vaccine candidates from Pfizer and Moderna, which reported 95 and 94.5 percent efficacy, respectively, have secured emergency use authorization (EUA) in the US, said Montoya
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| https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2020/12/24/182588/theatrics-duque-accused-of-pulling-stunt-in-mall-covid-19-protocol-inspections/ |
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III was accused of engaging in “theatrics” after he was seen personally enforcing safety protocols for the coronavirus pandemic at a mall in Taguig City on Thursday morning.
The chief public authority on health held a meter stick and measured the distance between two people in Bonifacio Global City, as seen in a video obtained by a local news outlet.
"It should be at least one meter," Duque said in a video which has since gone viral.
One meter is the minimum required physical distance among people to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus, especially in public places.
The Department of Health said it is almost equivalent to a motorcycle’s length.
Based on reports, Duque went to BGC to inspect establishments and check if the management and mall-goers are complying with the health and safety protocols which include physical distancing and the wearing of face masks and face shields.
However, he earned criticisms after the video of him checking the distance between two people was uploaded online.
Duque’s inspection was perceived as “theatrics” as some Filipinos recalled his involvement in the country’s vaccine deal with Pfizer, a US-based pharmaceutical company.
“Sec. Duque is busy doing photo op rounds with a ruler for social distancing measures, while the rest of the world is busy vaccinating their people,” a tweet of Tony Leachon, the former special adviser to National Task Force against COVID-19, reads.
Palompon town in Leyte will impose a community lockdown on Christmas and New Year's Day to control the movement of people amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
Mayor Myra Georgina Arevalo signed Executive Order No. 82 on Dec. 21, a copy of which was released on Tuesday night, prohibiting entry of non-residents on Dec. 24 to 25 and Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 as people are expected to gather for reunions and other similar activities on these dates.
"Despite interventions and the implementation of stricter measures, the threat of Covid-19 remains high and alarming. Under this circumstance, the exercise of due diligence is provident to prevent the spread of the virus," Arevalo said in a statement.
Household gatherings must be limited to a maximum of 10 persons and may exceed for immediate family members only, no outsiders, she added.
Social distancing was briefly not observed as residents of Lemery panicked amid the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that hit Batangas on Christmas day, the town mayor said Friday.
(Initially, people panicked so it can’t be avoided and physical distancing was briefly interrupted but after that and when residents were able to move on, they observed physical distancing quickly.)
President Rodrigo Duterte has called infectious disease experts and the managers of the country’s COVID-19 response to a special meeting on Saturday to discuss possible changes in policies to deal with the new coronavirus variant that emerged in the United Kingdom, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
In a Viber message to reporters, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, a longtime aide of the President, said Duterte was “very much worried” about the new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the severe respiratory disease.
Scientists said in a new study that the mutated coronavirus was on average 56 percent more contagious than the original version.
Roque said the officials would determine whether there was a need “to change some policies in the fight against COVID-19” like the possible extension of the one-week ban on people traveling from the United Kingdom, which started on Dec. 24, or to impose the same ban on travelers from places that have reported cases of the new variant like Singapore, Nigeria, and Hong Kong.
If the new variant is proven to spread more easily, there would be a need for stricter implementation of health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of the disease, he said.
But when asked whether a more infectious variant would mean stricter quarantine, Roque said, “Maybe not because we are really making sure our people have a means of living.”
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1125721 |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday broached the idea of reimposing stricter lockdown nationwide in an effort to prevent the entry of a new strain of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) from the United Kingdom (UK) to the Philippines.
Duterte floated the idea in a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and infectious diseases experts held at Malacañan Palace in Manila.
“Actually, ‘yung (the reimposition of another national) lockdown is a possibility. I said we’re making some projection. But if the severity in numbers would demand that we take corrective measures immediately, then we just have to go back to lockdown,” he said.
Duterte said he would decide depending on the “severity on the number” of cases of the new variant of the SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid-2019.
“It depends on the severity of the number. Kasi kapag marami na (If the cases rise) and we do not have the antidote on how to kill those variants, we’ll have a problem there and of course, we’ll also be hard-pressed on looking for the money for the expenses in the meantime. Magastos iyan (That will be costly),” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday night threatened to go through with ending the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States if it fails to deliver millions of doses of US-made COVID-19 vaccine.The president's latest pronouncement follows the supposed botched negotiations with the US drugmaker Pfizer for 10 million doses and as his administration faces criticism of lagging behind in the global race to secure doses.
"If they can't deliver at least 20 million doses at a minimum, they better get out," Duterte said in English during his televised meeting with the coronavirus task force. "No vaccine, no stay here."
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/769620/soldiers-vaccinated-vs-covid-19-are-psg-members-afp-spox/story/ |
They got the jab to protect Duterte but it would seem the best way to protect him would be to give the vaccine.Soldiers who are part of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) were the ones who got vaccinated against COVID-19, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo said Monday.
"Per our inquiry, members of the Presidential Security Group were the first ones from the AFP who were vaccinated owing to the nature of their mission and function," Arevalo said in a press statement.
"As the unit primarily tasked to protect and secure the highest official of the land, the PSG will have to ensure that the President is safe from all threats—including COVID-19," he added.
Arevalo issued the statement days after President Rodrigo Duterte bared that some soldiers have already vaccinated against the virus that already killed over 9,000 in the Philippines.
This, despite the fact that the Philippine Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve any COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA earlier warned that the use of unregistered vaccine could be unsafe.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday said it did not receive any formal communication on the importation of COVID-19 vaccines administered to the Presidential Security Group (PSG), and administrative and civil cases could be filed to those involved should the medicines be proven smuggled.
According to BOC assistant commissioner and spokesperson Philip Vincent Maronilla, all COVID-19 vaccines that enter the country should secure the necessary permits from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), which already said it has not given any go-ahead for such medicines.
"In such cases, we need a license to operate coming from the FDA or any provisional authority coming from the FDA," he said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo DZBB.
"That's what we are currently looking at in our records but so far as vaccines being brought in for, again, the use of general public, no one has communicated with us and no one has indicated to us such instructions. , "added Maronilla.
The FDA - also investigating the issue - has since clarified that there is still no vaccine approved for general use in the Philippines, and it has not yet given licenses to distribute and dispense the vaccine.
"If it is proven that it was entered without government permission and clearly smuggled, they can be charged with violation of our Customs Modernization Act or smuggling," Maronilla said.
"There are also certain special laws about bringing in illicit medicines that can be prosecuted against them both civilly and criminally, and those with lapses who are our officers, can be held administratively liable," he added.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/12/29/2066942/confusion-palace-contradicts-3-agencies-broader-travel-ban |
It was like 11 months ago on Tuesday when government agencies contradicted each other on whether or not a ban on travelers from 19 countries where a new strain of coronavirus would finally be enforced.
The confusion started after presidential spokesperson Harry Roque denied an announcement from the Manila International Airport Authority, which oversees Manila’s main gateway, that the Philippines was prohibiting people from 19 territories, in addition to the United Kingdom, from flying in. MIAA tweeted that decision on its official account, only to be deleted after Roque’s pronouncements.
“If you ask me, is there currently a travel ban? My answer is no. Will there be? Perhaps. Anong detalye? (What are the details?) Let's wait for it,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said during a virtual briefing aired over state-run PTV.
“Wait for us to issue an announcement if it is effective… The [Office of the President] is already preparing, just wait for the official pronouncement,” he added in Filipino.
The only problem was it was not only MIAA that declared the ban before Roque precipitated the mix-up. The health and labor departments, in separate instances early on Tuesday, likewise said travelers from 19 nations, apart from the UK, will not be allowed in from December 29 to January 15 because of the presence of a more contagious coronavirus strain.This has caught the ire of many, including legislators who felt the Duterte administration has not learned from a painful early experience of delaying a travel ban. Back in January, President Rodrigo Duterte himself initially rejected proposals to prevent Chinese mainlanders from entering in the initial stages of the pandemic.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1377566/psg-chief-personnel-vaccinated-as-early-as-september-sans-duterte-nod |
“We didn’t ask permission. So we just informed him about it after all of the close-in security was vaccinated,” Durante said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel when asked if they sought Duterte’s permission in vaccinating their personnel.
“He [Duterte] was surprised. Asking the same questions as you do. And I’m answering the same questions, the same answers,” he added.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1377555/who-administered-covid-19-vaccine-we-vaccinated-ourselves-says-psg-chief |
“We vaccinated ourselves. It’s so easy,” Durante admitted in an interview on ANC’s “Headstart.”
Asked if Durante himself inoculated the vaccine to the PSG officials, he said: “As I’ve said, we vaccinated ourselves. It is within our command.”
“We’ve done our research. For now, we’ve found the appropriate vaccine for us, which I could say is a traditional vaccine, so we took the risk,” he said.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/12/30/2067159/lorenzana-admits-sinopharm-vaccines-used-dutertes-security-detail-were-smuggled |
The question now becomes "Who gave them the vaccine and how did it get in the country?" The PSG ain't talking."Yes, it’s smuggled," Lorenzana told ABS-CBN, referring to the Sinopharm vaccines used by the PSG, during a ceremony held in commemoration of Rizal Day.
"Because its not authorized to enter here. Only the government can authorize that through the [Food and Drug Administration],” he further explained.
(As I’ve always said, I cannot say publicly and openly about our source because it’s unfair to our source. It could be a person, a state, or a businessman, or anybody.)(Actually, it was us who approached, we were the ones who requested that we would be acquiring the vaccines but rest assured that no public funds were used in that transaction and it was only a handful of vaccines purposely for the use of the security personnel of the President himself.)
Pressed if they asked to have the vaccines donated, Durante said: “Yes, kami mismo. We acted independently without the knowledge of any other, especially the President, without his knowledge or any other agency within the Republic of the Philippines.”
