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.

“Nakita natin karamihan sa ospital nag-full capacity na. Magkaroon po tayo ng disiplina. Itong pandemya ay malulutas lang kung tayo ay sama sama. At the same time, sa ating mga mamamayan, maging responsible (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.

“Karamihan sa mga nandoon sa ospital ay unvaccinated at karamihan halos lahat ng critical at nagkakaroon ng intubation ay unvaccinated (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.

In the latest Covid-19 bulletin on Friday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported an additional 20,336 active cases for a 188,108 overall active count, while recoveries have reached 2,100,039 out of 2,324,475 infections. (PNA)