More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been wasted in the Philippines.
Nearly 50 million donated and procured COVID-19 vaccine doses have been wasted in the Philippines, a senator said Wednesday.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, the sponsor of the Department of Health’s budget, said that the country’s COVID-19 vaccine wastage reached 49.73 million. A bulk of the wasted COVID-19 vaccines were “expired or beyond shelf life,” the senator said.
More than half, or 26.2 million, of the wasted jabs were donated.
“We’d like to emphasize that the shelf life of COVID vaccines is really short, only six months. And those that have been donated have a shelf life of three months. Some even have a shelf life of just one month,” Cayetano said in Filipino during the Senate plenary deliberations on the proposed P353.2 billion budget for the health department.
“I don’t know if it’s correct to say, but in a way, it does not surprise the experts because with a shelf life that short, we might see expiration like that,” she added.
Cayetano also said that the government will not appropriate any funds for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines in 2024. However, the country will accept donations of bivalent COVID-19 jabs from the COVAX facility.
More than 78.4 million individuals in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 since 2021. Only 23.8 million Filipinos have received boosters.
With such a short shelf life they say this wastage was a foregone conclusion. Of course without proper cold storage facilities and with people who do not want to be vaccinated wastage was also a no-brainer.
But not everyone is averse to getting the jab.
The Department of Health (DOH) has stopped distributing COVID vaccines after the country’s government-procured and donated stocks were depleted, an official said on Tuesday.
Health Assistant Secretary Beverly Ho said the government completed administering the bivalent COVID-19 jabs donated by Lithuania last August.
The DOH previously said the government does not plan to purchase a new batch of bivalent COVID-19 vaccines.
“Kami sa DOH program, the last we rolled out was bivalent vaccines, which were just… a little less than 400,000, and that’s already consumed,” Ho told the House Committee on Public Order and Safety during a hearing on Tuesday.
“Mayroon silang market authorization, pero it is already dependent on whether the private sector will import it,” she added.
“Because the (monovalent) vaccines are expiring or have expired and have not gotten extension permits, then technically, no one can vaccinate anyone using those vaccines."
DOH has monitored 9 COVID vaccine-associated deaths in the Philippines out of the over 78 million individuals inoculated, said Dr. Alethea de Guzman, director at the DOH's Epidemiology Bureau.
"Ibig sabihin, siyam lang doon sa 78 million… ‘yung sigurado tayo na dahil sa bakuna ‘yung dahilan ng pagkamatay nila… Half of these deaths were because of anaphylactic reactions, meaning sudden and very severe allergic reactions,” de Guzman told a House panel.
The DOH also explained that while more deaths were reported following COVID immunization, not all could immediately be associated with the vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that of the 112,264 reported adverse events following immunization, 10,583 were considered serious, including 2,801 deaths.
"They are reported data. Ibang process ang causality assessment. Meaning, from the reports, ang ikinamatay ba niya ay bakuna o nakagat siya ng aso, o nabangga siya. Because that report does not differentiate it,” Ho said.
The DOH said data also showed a huge drop in deaths due to COVID-19 infection after the vaccination rollout.
Wow! There have been 112,264 reports of adverse events after getting the jab and 2,801 of those adverse events have been death? Why don't we hear more about that?
Vaccines for certain disease is now near zero thanks to the pandemic.
Healthcare experts have expressed concern over reports that the Philippines is among the countries with the highest number of unvaccinated individuals against certain diseases.
They said the country needs to step up its campaign in preventing several diseases, including dengue and human papillomavirus (HPV).
“As physicians, we are sad and actually ashamed as Filipinos that we are one of the countries with the highest number of zero vaccination,” said Dr. Jonathan Lim, overall chairman of the 24th Philippine National Immunization Conference held in Cebu City last week.
The high rate of zero vaccination was blamed on the Dengvaxia controversy which resulted in hesitancy and the no-contact policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We all hear about post-pandemic recovery in light of the economy but what about in terms of health?
Marcos has cited the selfless service to Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Wednesday (PH time) highlighted the Filipinos' "selfless service'' to Americans during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a speech before the Filipino community here, Marcos mentioned that most nurses in the West Coast have been trained in the Philippines.
"Ngayon ang nangyari pa during COVID-19 [During the COVID-19 pandemic], Americans experienced first hand the Filipino way of caring and acting on the needs of others. One in every five nurses here in the West Coast are trained in the Philippines," Marcos said.
''Our Filipino nurses, doctors, our first responders, essential workers have all demonstrated the timeless Filipino virtues of malasakit, pakikipagkapwa at ang [ka]bayanihan [concern, companionship, heroism],'' he added.
He said that Filipinos and Filipino-Americans can be found in various sectors of American economy, society and media, as well as in politics and government.
Marcos expressed gratitude for the selfless service of Filipinos to humanity ''and we look up to you as role models for future generations of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.''
Marcos encouraged the Filipino community in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest for their full support ''as your government works to build a resilient, sustainable and inclusive future for our people back home.''
''Let us remain united and firm towards our common goal so that together we’ll be able to leave behind a new Philippines that our children and grandchildren deserve,'' Marcos said.
If he wants Filipinos in the bay Are to support the government building "a resilient, sustainable and inclusive future for our people back home" why doesn't he coax them to come back? Why is it government policy to support the brain drain?
According to a study to assess COVID-19’s impact on people of color Filipinos in Long Beach do not have access to healthy food and are unhealthy as a result.
Even if everyone wishes to shift to a healthier lifestyle, not all can afford to do so just as how the Filipino community in Long Beach, California is struggling to access to healthier food.
New findings revealed on Oct. 30 by the city’s health department show that 38 percent of 219 participants out of 20,000 Filipino respondents were grappling with the affordability of healthy food in the past year—eight percent of which claimed it was “always” an issue while five percent expressed feeling “regularly” worried.
In response to the city’s initiative to know COVID-19’s impact on people of color, the Filipino Community Health Needs Assessment presented the aforementioned results.
Hit hard are the Filipinos in the Westside area where most of them reside. The area is historically known for having scarcity for healthier food options, making it a possible candidate for the food market program.
“We also have heard in our listening sessions the link between not having enough access to nutritious foods and being able to make better health decisions about the food we’re eating,” shared Filipino, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health Equity coordinator Harold Dela Cruz.
At the Oct. 30 discussion, residents shared their thoughts: hoping for a break from red meat, white rice, fried goods, and having access to more affordable groceries. This is what exactly the report echoes where participants also expressed their needs for more farmer’s markets, parks, and grocery stores, in their neighborhoods.
In addition to the survey’s results are these health findings from the participating Filipinos in Long Beach:
- 36 percent had been diagnosed with high blood pressure
- 15 percent or survey respondents have a diabetes diagnosis
- 57 percent have diabetes in their family tree
- Younger generations are leaning more into mental health care needs than the older people
Meanwhile, even if doing more physical activities outside can be a solution to the health issues, walking isn’t an option for 22 percent of the respondents as they didn’t feel safe doing so.
Although Dela Cruz noted that it’s hard to make grand conclusions considering the small sample size, the Filipino Community Advisory Community is crafting programs and policies based on the results of the health report.
Hard to make grand conclusions? Filipinos on whole have higher blood pressure and diabetes is a top killer which is all due to their diet which is filled with white rice and fried foods. Funny that these Filipinos are tired of fried rice and fried foods when that is what everyone at home eats!
A group of Filipino priests on pilgrimage to Marian shrines have met with the Pope. They would have done this in 2021 if not for the pandemic.
Instead of treating it as an opportunity for vacation, Pope Francis has appealed to the Roman Catholic faithful to view every pilgrimage as a sacred occasion.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church relayed the message at a meeting with priests and lay people from the Archdiocese of Ozamis in Misamis Occidental at the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Friday.
The contingent – led by Ozamis Bishop Martin Jumoad – was on a pilgrimage to churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary around Europe as part of the celebration of the archdiocese’s 50th anniversary, according to the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
“It is important to keep in mind, however, that a pilgrimage is not like a vacation. In fact, making a pilgrimage to shrines is an eloquent expression of trust in God,” said the Roman Pontiff in his message posted on the Vatican website.
Pope Francis added he hoped the journey of the members of the Archdiocese of Ozamis would “help each of you to be like Mary: missionary disciples transformed by your encounter with the Lord and renewed in zeal for bearing witness to his presence, compassion and love.”
Also regarded as the 266th successor of St. Peter, to whom Jesus gave the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” according to the Bible, Francis called on the faithful in the archdiocese to “contribute to the advancement of God’s kingdom of justice, unity and peace.”
“It is my hope that your parishes and communities will be models in practicing the works of mercy and in being neighbors to all, especially families, young people, the sick, the elderly and the poor, with the charity that Jesus asks of us,” the Pope said.
He stressed in particular the need for Catholics to be “responsible stewards of creation, in the realization that our care for one another and for our common home are intimately bound together,” citing his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum.
Francis gave his blessing to the visitors from Ozamis and also asked them to pray for him, which he has been asking the faithful since the start of his pontificate in 2013.
The Archdiocese of Ozamis – established in 1951 – was supposed to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021, but festivities had to be held off due to pandemic-related health restrictions, the CBCP noted.
Elevated as an archdiocese in 1983, it currently covers the dioceses of Dipolog, Iligan, Pagadian and the Prelature of Marawi, it added.
So, in order to celebrate the founding of their diocese they leave it for a vacation?
The Philippines has taken out a $400 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to assist with pandemic recovery.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$400 million loan to help the Philippines achieve its medium-term fiscal strategy and finance its post-pandemic economic recovery through a stronger focus on revenue mobilisation, including modernizing tax administration, systems, and processes.
The Domestic Resource Mobilisation (DRM) Program Subprogram 1 is ADB’s first policy-based loan dedicated to DRM reform. It addresses the country’s need to tackle discrepancies in tax policy frameworks to boost tax compliance, reduce tax avoidance, and raise more revenues from activities and products that have a major impact on the environment or contribute to climate change.
“The program recognises that DRM reforms necessitate not only raising revenue, but also designing a revenue system that fosters inclusiveness, encourages good governance, promotes investments and job creation, reduces inequality, and tackles climate change,” said ADB Senior Economist for Public Finance Aekapol Chongvilaivan. “ADB supports the government’s DRM program, which will result in a higher tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio and ensure sustainable financing for the country as it sets out to achieve its goals under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023‒2028.”
The government is going to use this money to modernize their tax collection system. That means more money from the people.
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