More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
It's finally happened. The new mutated strain of the virus has reached the Philippines.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/01/14/2070343/new-covid-19-variant-now-philippines-doh |
The new and more contagious variant of COVID-19 that first emerged in the United Kingdom has been detected in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) announced last night.
In a statement, the DOH and PGC said that following strengthened biosurveillance and border control efforts, the B-117 SARS-CoV-2 or the UK variant was detected in the Philippines after samples from a Filipino who arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Jan. 7 “yielded positive genome sequencing results.”
The patient is a male resident of Quezon City who departed for Dubai on Dec. 27, 2020 for business purposes. He returned to the Philippines on Jan. 7 via Emirates Flight EK 332.
The patient was accompanied by his female partner during his trip.
However, the woman tested negative for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, upon arrival.
“Both of the returning Filipinos had no exposure to a confirmed case prior to their departure to Dubai nor had any travel activities outside Quezon City,” the DOH and PGC said.
Two people traveling together, both were not exposed to any known cases, and yet one of them tested positive for the new variant. Sounds like the virus is airborne and if that is the case then all the health protocols in the world won't stop its spread. Already 8 passengers on the same flight tested positive for the new variant.
Lawmakers and others are asking about how much Sinovac's vaccine cost. The Palace says they got the BFF price and that it was somewhere around P650.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/14/21/palace-china-sold-covid-19-vaccine-to-philippines-at-bff-price |
Beijing offered the Philippines the COVID-19 vaccine from its state-backed Sinovac Biotech at a "BFF" or "best friend forever" price, Malacañang said on Thursday, after a lawmaker urged the government to rethink the procurement over efficacy concerns.
The Philippines has booked 25 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, which Senate finance committee chair Sen. Sonny Angara earlier said cost around P3,600 per 2 jabs.
Communist China is "not driven by market forces" and can "unilaterally fix" its vaccine prices, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
(We were given a price fit for their BFF.)
(If I am not mistaken, that is just the third most expensive out of 6 brands, so it is in the mid-range. There is no sense to the claims of critics that Sinovac is very expensive.)A confidentiality agreement covers the prices of vaccines, and Roque said he was "not at a liberty" to disclose Sinovac's exact cost.
It seems the Filipino people have no right to know how much of their tax moneys went to pay for this vaccine. To all those who balk at the though of getting a Chinese jab Duterte says Sinovac is just as good as Pfizer or any Western vaccine.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/01/13/2070375/claim-all-jabs-are-same-duterte-defends-sinovac-purchase |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday renewed his trust for COVID-19 vaccines developed by China, even going as far as claiming that all jabs are just the same despite developers reporting different efficacy rates.
The president in his weekly address was seemingly responding to criticism that the administration is preferring the Chinese-made Sinovac despite 50% efficacy and yet the second most expensive.
(This vaccine is as good as any other that the Americans or Europeans developed. The Chinese are not lacking in mind.)
Sinovac's efficacy remains unclear to date, but its clinical trials in Brazil showed it was at 50.4%, compared with other jabs such as Pfizer at 95% and AstraZeneca at 70%. It had been the subject of concern at home, even from lawmakers, who had criticized the move to procure 25 million of Sinovac's doses.
(The one they picked is better. This is more effective and we would get this early. For those who don't want it, you're on your own.)
Obviously a vaccine with a 50% effectivity rate is nowhere near as good as one that has a 95% effectivity rate.
In response to the presence of the mutated virus the government has extended the travel ban until the end of the month.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1127461 |
The Philippines has extended the travel ban on countries with confirmed cases of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 variant, or the United Kingdom (UK) variant, until the end of January, Malacañang announced on Friday.
To curb the spread of the new variant in the country, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the recommendation to extend the temporary travel restrictions until January 31, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
“Travel restrictions in more than 30 countries extended until January 31, 2021,” Roque said.
Travelers from the UK, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman are prohibited from going to the Philippines.
Studies found that the UK variant is nearly 70 percent more transmissible than the original Covid-19 variant. However, there is no evidence yet that it is deadlier than the previous variant.
The list could grow as the new mutation spreads. The DOH says they will be testing all incoming travelers and any who test positive will undergo genome sequencing.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1383964/all-incoming-travelers-with-covid-19-to-undergo-genome-sequencing-doh |
Hopefully the Philippines can find a way to adapt without shutting down all travel.(Aside from countries with travel restrictions, we are now going to test all of those passengers or incoming travelers coming from all countries. Once they arrive here, they will undergo swab test and the specimen of those who will test positive will be tested for genomic sequencing.)
(It’s part of the evolution of the virus. It will mutate. It will produce new variants. We cannot have a total travel ban forever, so we need to adapt. We just need to prevent its entry and to strictly comply with and implement our protocols.)
Further, Vergeire said that the government will only add countries to the travel ban list if it is confirmed from official sources that they have the new virus variant.
Military tanks were deployed to certain areas in downtown Cebu City starting Friday night, January 15.
Uniformed personnel with long arms also roamed streets in these areas to make sure that residents stay at home.
Personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Central Command (Centcom) are tasked to prohibit Cebuanos who will be celebrating the feast of the Señor Sto. Niño this Saturday and Sunday from gathering, said Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
EOC has sought help from Centcom to especially secure Barangays Suba, Pasil, Ermita, and Sawang Calero ahead of the fiesta Señor celebration on Sunday.
As a tradition, residents in these areas would converge to hold their own Sinulog activities to celebrate the annual feast of the Holy Child.
Residents of Barangay Pasil, for example, is known for showering water to devotees, a practice that they have been doing for years.
Garganera said military personnel will stay in these barangays until Sunday to control the crowd.
“We sent Centcom tanks to Barangays Pasil, Sawang Calero, Suba and Ermita in anticipation of the crowd in tomorrow’s fiesta celebrations,” he said.
Garganers aid the village chiefs of the four barangays have also been warned against allowing fiesta celebration otherwise they will have to face administrative charges for violating quarantine protocols.
In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved “in principle” his proposal to place some areas of the country under the “new normal” classification next month.
He said the basis to determine areas to be placed under the new normal classification will be based on scientific data, specifically case doubling rate and critical care capacity.
“(Well it will still depend on data because we follow analytics when it comes to determining quarantine classifications. But what I can say is, I have long pushed for and the IATF has approved my proposal to declare areas under the new normal -- these are places with no new transmissions)” he said.
Roque said placing some areas under the new normal classification may spark hope among the public that the life can continue even if Covid-19 vaccines are yet to be available locally.
“(In this case, we can have hope that there is an end to the Covid-19 pandemic even if we don’t have vaccines yet because there are places with no transmission. So that we can determine if they can return to normal),” he added.
Currently, he said the IATF is now formulizing the “dos and don’ts” in areas to be placed under the new normal classification.
“(What they are crafting now are the dos and don’ts under the new normal because once we transition to a new normal, some might start to hold rock concerts. That’s what we need to clarify, the dos and dont’s),” he said.
New normal, according to IATF guidelines, refers to the “emerging behaviors, situations, and minimum public health standards that will be institutionalized in common or routine practices and remain even after the pandemic while the disease is not totally eradicated through means such as widespread immunization.”
“These include actions that will become second nature to the general public as well as policies such as bans on large gatherings that will continue to remain in force,” the guidelines read.
The government is expecting the first shipment of the vaccine for COVID-19 next month but the country’s cold storage operators, who could have key roles in the distribution of the potentially life-saving shots, are still awaiting official word from the authorities on how they could contribute to control the pandemic.
The country’s biggest cold-chain association had expressed its willingness to play a major role in the storage of coronavirus vaccines in partnership with the government.
Anthony Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines (CCAP), told the Inquirer on Thursday that no one from the government had formally reached out to his sector for help, leaving it out in the cold, unsure about whether it must now prepare the equipment to store vaccines.
“We have on several occasions already manifested our capability and willingness to be part of the vaccine distribution program,” Dizon said in an interview. “We have spoken with some people in [the] government to deliver the same message but up to now, there has been no active coordination from any agency or government involved in this vaccine program expressing intention to link up with the private sector.”
If it's such a necessity then why hasn't the government coordinated with these people who are willing to help out? Why wait until the last minute like they are doing now?
The government is getting ready for the vaccines by holding a mock vaccination clinic.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1127844 |
The city government of Manila on Tuesday started its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination simulation as part of the Manila Vaccination Plan (MVP) program.
“We want to achieve, to practice, together with our Manila Health Department (MHD), hospital directors, and medical front-liners, to see the possible scenarios that may slow down the process and avoid mishandling of the vaccines,” Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso said in a mix of English and Filipino during the simulation program at the Palma Hall of the Universidad de Manila (UdM).
He said the city government decided to conduct a “mock vaccination” while waiting for the arrival of vaccines.
Domagoso said the simulation showed that the vaccination process itself may last from five to six minutes if the patient has already pre-registered through the website manilacovid19.com.
For walk-in or unregistered individuals, he said there may be an additional five minutes on top of the six minutes.
Domagoso, however, clarified that the said time does not include the individual’s schedule for queuing.
After receiving the vaccine, the patient will be asked to stay at a holding area for about 30 minutes to 1 hour under observation for any adverse reaction.
After the vaccination, the person’s data will be found in an ID indicating the name of the person who administered the vaccine, the vaccine’s lot number, its brand, and the date it was given.
The said ID, Domagoso said, will be the person’s proof that he is already vaccinated against Covid-19, which he may present when he reports back to work or when traveling.
Sounds like the whole process will take a little more than an hour. Hopefully they can work out all the kinks and make it a smooth process.
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