President Rodrigo Duterte said the government is ready to further boost the country's daily vaccination rate with the continuous arrival of more vaccines.
WITH the additional new cases of the more transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant, President Rodrigo Duterte urged local governments to “speed up” their Covid-19 vaccination programs.
The slow pace of the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program is one of the topics covered by the President in his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday (July 26).
"We cannot live anymore in the shadow of this potent enemy, especially now that science and medicines have proven that it is possible to live, if not, entirely defeat this virus," he said in his speech.
Duterte said the government is ready to further boost the country's daily vaccination rate with the continuous arrival of more vaccines.
While the government imposed health protocols that have been proven effective and have slowed down the transmission of the virus, Duterte said still "the best solution is the vaccination."
"I also encouraged our local government units to hasten their rollout and strengthen their inoculation program. San Juan City has vaccinated 70 percent of their population in a month’s time. Saludo ako sa inyo,” he said.
Ahead of Duterte's final SONA, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said all government agencies are doing their best in terms of pandemic response.
During a media interview, Año said the government had adequately enforced the community quarantine protocols and minimum public health standards putting premium on 80 percent on the prevention of Covid-19 transmission.
“Sa pangunguna ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) at saka ng National Task Force (against Covid-19), katulong din natin iyong ating local government units mula sa pagpapatupad ng PDITR plus vaccination strategy hanggang sa pag-roll out ng ating mga vaccination,’’ Año added.
He also maintained the National Task Force against Covid-19 and the LGUs play vital roles in preventing the spread of the virus in order to ease the country's healthcare utilization rate for Covid-19.
The Philippines has administered a total of 17,202,421 doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of July 25, of which 11,113,107 are allocated as the first dose and 6,089,314 are full doses.
(ONT/With report from PNA)
Tags: #RodrigoDuterte, #StateOfTheNationAddress, #Covid19vaccines