The government is eyeing to increase coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine uptake following a sharp rise in cases, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Sunday.

Marcos said the “vaccination push” shall particularly target the younger people.

“We will have to conduct again, especially for young people, we’ll have to conduct again a vaccination push para mabawasan na ‘yan, para mabawasan ‘yan (so that we could reduce the cases) especially with people being a little bit, shall we say, nahihirapan na nga eh dahil sa init, that brings down…humihina ang katawan (suffering due to the hot weather that weakens their immune system) and that will make them more vulnerable to Covid again,” he said.

He allayed fears about the rising numbers and expressed confidence that government instrumentalities would be able to manage the issue immediately.

“We might have to think about it… ako ang tinitingnan ko is because although ‘yung rate of increase lumalaki, ang baseline natin na sinimulan eh maliit lang so hopefully we’re still ano (what I’m looking at is that although the rate of increase is going up, we the baseline is still small so)… we’re still going to be able to do it,” he said.

Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said the rise in the positivity rate is due to several factors, which include the mobility of the population on holidays as well as the number of people taking Covid-19 test.

She emphasized, however, that the positivity rate should not be the focus of the public as the only basis for determining the country’s Covid-19 situation.

Vergeire also assured the public that the healthcare utilization rate for Covid-19 cases remains low and the healthcare system is prepared for the increase in infections.

In the latest data from the OCTA Research Group released Wednesday, the National Capital Region’s (NCR) positivity rate or the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 increased to 12.3 percent as of April 26.

OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said the figure is a 4.2-percent increase from last week’s 8.1 percent.

“The country recorded 506 new cases, 0 deaths, 315 recoveries, and 4,446 active cases,” he said.

These bring the overall tally to 4,090,215 cases, 66,444 deaths and 4,019,325 recoveries.

Of the new cases, the NCR logged the most number with 197; Rizal with 35; and Laguna with 29.

Meanwhile, the nation’s positivity rate has reached 12.9 percent. (PNA)