Palace extends State of Calamity for 3 months

Malacañang said it is extending the state of calamity due to the Covid-19 pandemic for three months.

Press Secretary Rose Beatrix Cruz Angeles said that President Marcos has decided to extend the state of calamity until the end of the year to preserve its benefits.

“The international medical community, including the WHO (World Health Organization), is supporting countries under a state of calamity. If we lift it, the support will stop as well,” Marcos said.

Benefits would include indemnification, emergency procurement, and special risk allowance for healthcare workers.

“We are looking at amending the law in terms of procurement and all of that in the middle of an emergency,” Marcos added.

Covid-19 Update

In the past week, the Department of Health (DOH) said that the Philippines recorded 15,379 new Covid-19 cases. From Sept. 5 to 11, an average of 2,197 daily infections were recorded which is 10 percent lower compared to the previous week.

As of Sunday, 727, or 9.6 percent of Covid-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition.

Feedback from the Senate

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda welcomed the Palace’s decision saying said that the government should also set an official timeline with milestones for the “full reopening” phase.

“Keeping the public health emergency declaration effective will help us bolster our health care system. But we can fully withdraw some of the more restrictive or even militaristic aspects of our anti-COVID-19 measures, such as heavy-handed rules on masking, in favor of a more positive or affirmative approach,” Salceda said

He added that the establishment of the Center of Disease Control and Virology Institute would help the country get out of the emergency situation.

Meanwhile, former Health secretary and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin recommend that the first booster dose under the government's COVID-19 immunization program should be included in the definition of "completely vaccinated."

This would help increase the booster intake as those who took their booster shots are pegged at only 21.76 percent, months after booster shots were made available to the mass.

One reason why Filipinos don’t take booster shots is that they are overconfident about the protection given by the primary series, the Manila Standard reported.

Garin said that this was a messaging problem because the government sees them as fully vaccinated after the second dose of the vaccine.

She added that the voluntary usage of face masks was premature, taking note that countries like Singapore and Vietnam implemented this when their boosted population reached 78 percent.

“If we make wearing of face mask optional this would send a mixed signal, the public would feel that there’s no pandemic anymore and will be more confident not to get booster shots,” Garin explained.

Garin also advises combining the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) financial aid program with the DOH booster program to urge the public to get their booster shots. These two programs will make it easier to encourage the public in getting their booster shot.

Booster shots will certainly add more protection to the user’s body against the virus hence encouraging them to take them will help.

2nd generation of vaccines

The DOH intends to obtain second-generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting the coronavirus's old and Omicron strains by the first quarter of 2023.

DOH OIC Maria Rosario Vergeire made this announcement during DOH’s presentation of its proposed budget for 2023 before the House committee on appropriations.

“We are already in the process of discussion with manufacturers of new generation COVID-19 vaccines targeting Omicron and the original strain of COVID-19. One manufacturer is finishing registration for approval in the United States, and we are preparing the term sheet,” Vergeire said.

“For another manufacturer, we are working on a non-disclosure agreement. If we are able to proceed with these transactions, we will be able to procure the next generation of COVID-19 vaccine by the first quarter of next year,” she said.

Vergeire stressed the importance of getting this 2nd generation of vaccines as the immunity of the primary doses of Covid-19 is already waning.

Experts have said that by the end of the year, the waning immunity will be progressive to those who did not have their first booster and will affect the immunity of the whole population and increase admissions to hospitals.

At the same time, applications for emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines for children aged zero to four years are pending with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We still don’t have any recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines for children less than five years old,” Vergeire said after being asked by Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor if DOH will be administering vaccines for children aged 0 to 4 years old.

“Pfizer and Moderna have been allowed by the [US] FDA and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) for children aged six months and above. I am asking to expedite your policy on this because schools are reopening and [the] mask policy is being relaxed,” Defensor said.

In DOH records, 93,054 children under the age of five have been infected with COVID-19, accounting for 2.39 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the country thus far.

The vaccination for children is being recommended especially now that children are back to a face-to-face setting and with the mask policy being optional now. This would boost their immunity against the virus and focus on their studies as we are now slowly getting back to the “normal.”

Tags: #StateOfCalamity, #Covid-19, #Vaccines, #Pandemic