More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
It's par for the course for this rotten and corrupt government to blame the continuing pandemic on the people but that is how it is.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1153862 |
Adherence to safety protocols and vaccination are key elements to the success of the government's Covid-19 pandemic responses, National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Friday.
The vaccine czar repeated anew his appeal to strictly observe minimum health protocols as the threat of Covid-19 and emerging variants persists.
"(As we see, most of our hospitals are in full capacity, so let's have discipline This pandemic will only be resolved if we work together. At the same time, if our citizens will be responsible)," he said in a media interview during the arrival of the private sector-procured 661,200 AstraZeneca doses at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 in Pasay City.
Galvez said it's not yet time to be complacent "because the new Covid-19 variants like Delta are highly transmissible”.
"The participation of the people will be the core of our response so we encourage you to continue adhering to health and safety measures," he said.
Galvez also urged the public to get vaccinated.
"(Most of the infected patients in the hospitals are in critical condition because most of them are unvaccinated and most of the intubated patients are unvaccinated)," he said.
Given that the virus has an over 90% recovery rate one must wonder what are the statistics of those who have been infected and hospitalized? Are they fat? Old? Have any disease at all? It is comorbidities that exacerbate the effects of the virus. Putting people in a perpetual state of fear over an imaginary "deadly pandemic" is not good for the public health. Right now there have been 2.4 million infections with 37,000 dead which means only 1.5% of those infected have died while only .03% of the total population has died from the virus. It's all a big joke but it isn't funny at all.
The Philippines has received millions of doses of vaccines. Only 10,000 of those have spoiled due to temperature problems.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/09/20/2128360/doh-10000-doses-wasted-due-temperature-excursion |
Some 10,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted primarily due to “temperature excursion,” the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
According to DOH Undersecretary and National Vaccine Operation Center head Myrna Cabotaje, some 10,000 jabs have already been registered as “wastage.”
Cabotaje said the “biggest wastage” was incurred in a storage facility at a major vaccination site in Filinvest, Muntinlupa City.
The temperature in the facility changed reportedly due to mishandling by the local government unit and vaccine safety officers. This resulted in temperature excursion.
She noted in a radio interview that vaccine wastage also took place when some vials were dropped and were found to have no labels.
The wastage includes the vaccines that were damaged during a fire incident in South Cotabato, and jabs that were spoiled after being left in a freezer that was unplugged in North Cotabato.
Cabotaje said that while 10,000 doses is “small” compared to the more than 40 million doses already administered, it is still regrettable that there is vaccine wastage.
“It’s too bad. That’s why for every incident, we study the reasons so we can avoid it from happening again. We want to avoid any wastage,” she maintained.
10,000 today but who knows how many doses will be wasted due to negligence in the days to come. Not only vaccines have gone wasted but so have testing kits.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1492026/covid-test-kits-expire-amid-low-testing-last-year |
Information emerging from the Senate blue ribbon committee investigation of COVID spending by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) and Department of Health (DOH) said at least P550 million worth of testing kits had expired last year without being used.
A committee member, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, presented documents showing that Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.—a foreign-owned firm now at the center of the ongoing Senate investigation of P8.7 billion in contracts for COVID supplies—delivered 4,800 kits on May 2, 2020 and 3,200 on May 4, 2020.
Citing documents, Pangilinan said inspection reports would show that the test kits were manufactured on April 5, 2020 and had an expiry date of Oct. 5, 2020—a shelf life of just six months.
It was much shorter than what the DOH had required—24 to 36 months, which had been confirmed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III but explained by him as benchmarks set prior to the pandemic.
Presented during the blue ribbon committee hearing was a letter by Assistant Health Secretary Nelson Santiago addressed to then PS-DBM chief Christopher Lloyd Lao dated Dec. 7, 2020 which confirmed that 7,925 test kits had expired without being used.
These would have been good for at least 371,794 COVID tests last year.
According to the DOH data tracker, weekly testing nationwide from May 2020—when the COVID test kits were reportedly delivered—to October 2020—before the kits expired—was between 59,000 and 260,000.
For comparison, weekly testing in 2021 from August 30 to Sept. 5 was 574,980 and 566,281 from Sept. 6 to 12.
And who is to blame for the low testing rate? The people or the government?
So far roughly 38,000 people have died from the virus. This fact has not stopped Davao from preparing a mass grave site for COVID-19 victims.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1154049 |
As the cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to rise here, Mayor Sara Z. Duterte bared Monday that the city has already prepared a mass burial site at the Tagakpan Public Cemetery in Tugbok District.
In a radio interview, she reiterated that in March last year, during the early days of the pandemic, they already prepared the site for those who have succumbed to the infection.
“We are ready since last year and we already announced it also. It is expected that if there is a surge, there will be numerous deaths and our hospitals will be overwhelmed,” Duterte said.
About 160 lots are available at the cemetery and each lot can accommodate up to six corpses or 960 corpses in total.
On the other hand, she also said the city’s crematorium could process about four cadavers per day.
Since April last year, Mayor Sara said the number of cremations has reached 2,101.
“We have 22 cadavers who are still scheduled for cremation. Our crematorium is always fully booked because of the surge. If there is a surge, many will get sick (and die),” she said.
Why does Davao City need a mass grave site when it has the highest recovery rate in the region?
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149798 |
The Davao Region has so far recorded 48,271 patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) since the pandemic struck in March last year, representing a recovery rate of 84.5 percent of the total 57,135 confirmed cases.
An 84.5% recovery rate. And Sara Duterte is talking about building a mass grave site? It's just fearmongering propaganda.
Will there soon be a nationwide vaccine mandate in the Philippines? Perhaps.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1154905 |
The Congress would need to pass a law requiring Filipinos to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malacañang said on Tuesday.Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after President Rodrigo R. Duterte broached the idea of using the government’s police power to compel citizens to get their jabs.“(As long as there is a law, we can implement that so let’s put it into the proper context),” he said in a Palace press briefing.Asked to clarify if Duterte’s new pronouncement meant he was urging the legislative branch to pass a law compelling the public to get vaccinated, he responded in the affirmative.“Yes, of course. That’s the jurisdiction of Congress but the President can always certify an administration bill for such a law,” he added.Roque said several countries have turned to vaccine mandates to increase vaccination rates."(The state really has the power to use police power to promote the good of the majority. But when it comes to the vaccine, let us wait, because we need a policy first),” he said.Roque also reiterated Duterte’s statement asking government workers who refused to get vaccinated to leave public service.“(I guess the President will start requiring mandatory vaccination among those working in government. But) this is without prejudice po to Congress passing a law,” he said.
What would the penalties for breaking such a law be? Jail time? Fines? The government is looking to administer booster shots to some sectors just in time for the 2022 elections.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1154469 |
The government is mulling to start the administration of Covid-19 booster shots to priority sectors before the May 2022 national and local elections.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19, said part of the government's second phase of vaccine procurement is to acquire reformulated booster jabs for use of those vulnerable sectors -- primarily the healthcare workers.
"(We are also planning to finish the inoculation of at least 90 percent by February or before the elections)," Galvez reported to President Rodrigo Duterte during prerecorded Talk to the People on Wednesday night.
The government is now readying the procurement of the next-generation vaccine boosters which will extend the efficacy of the Covid-19 jabs to fight emerging coronavirus variants.
"(Before the elections, at least those who should be given booster shots, will get their booster shots. Everyone should be protected before the elections)," Galvez said.
Those booster shots will probably be very necessary to prevent breakthrough infections. Former Health Secretary Janette Garin says the DOH is lying about breakthrough infections.
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| https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=tl&tl=en&u=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/29/21/garin-doh-data-sa-breakthrough-covid-cases-big-lie |
The former Health Secretary and now Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin that the Department of Health lied in providing data on breakthough infections of COVID-19 in the country.
In the plenary debates of the House of Representatives on the DOH budget on Tuesday, Garin asserted that the number of breakthrough infections is higher when looking at the situation in hospitals than the data released by the department.
“The data is still being collected by the DOH, so it is not complete. The summary that we have based on the available data that we have, there are a total of 242 cases that were reported as breakthrough infections, 87% of which are mild, and asymptomatic while 10% are hospitalized and 2% are dead, ”he replied. by Quezon City 5th district Rep. Duke Frasco, was the sponsor of the DOH budget when Garin requested DOH data.
Garin replied: "I am telling you that is a big lie."
“(Only) 242 cases? Eh at San Joaquin Hospital alone, they already have 60 cases. In our district hospital, we have probably 50 cases and we know for a fact that in PGH, the breakthrough infections will not be less than 50. So 242 is impossible. ”
He said he was not saying that the vaccines against COVID-19 available to the government are no longer effective but that the DOH should be transparent in its data so that local officials can respond to the infection situation in their areas.
“I do hope that the DOH will have it in their conscience to be transparent to our people. Because 242. This is a war, and our decisions are based on the transparency that you are showing, ”said Garin.
“I am not saying that we failed. I am saying we need to recalibrate information because we owe it to our people to be transparent. ”
Frasco replied that the DOH does not yet hold the total number of breakthrough infections because it is still gathering additional data.
Garin, on the other hand, believes that the concept of "herd immunity" is no longer true when counting those vaccinated with COVID-19.
This is due to the more contagious Delta variant that is already infiltrating the protection of vaccines.
“There is no herd immunity to talk about at this point in time because of the waning immunity and the inadequate protection of the currently recommended primary series. This is not the fault of government and this is not the fault of the Department of Health. This is science that should be explained to our frontliners and decision-makers, ”he said.
Garin stressed that the DOH must admit that the country seems to be "back to zero" when it comes to herd immunity in order to take the right steps in the midst of the pandemic.
“I think the answer is no. We are not back to zero with respect to herd immunity. The purpose of the vaccination program is to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus, and it is shown that if a person is vaccinated, they have less of the viral load, and that will help in terms of transmission, ”Frasco defended.
If there is anything the pandemic has taught us it's that the DOH is not very transparent whether with finances or hard data. After all, they recommend face shields even though they don't provide a bit of protection from the virus.
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