Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Monday lauded the government’s aggressive mass vaccination rollout as the levels of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection fell “dramatically” not only in Metro Manila, but in the entire country.
“It would seem that the government strategy of aggressive mass vaccination has dramatically brought down the number of mortalities and severe and critical cases of COVID in the country,” Velasco said.
Velasco, however, stressed that there should be no room for complacency despite declining COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates, especially with Metro Manila downgrading to a less restrictive Alert Level 2 status.
“Parang nabunutan po tayo ng tinik sa lalamunan at tila nakahinga tayo nang maluwag matapos ang matagal na panahon ng pagpigil ng hininga. Subalit hindi ito ang panahon ng pagiging kampante (It’s like a thorn was removed from my throat and it feels like we could breathe a sigh of relief after a long time of holding our breaths. But this is not the time to be lax). Let us not put our guards down,” Velasco said.
He encouraged everyone to continue observing health protocols set by experts especially now that businesses start to reopen and more citizens are allowed to go out.
Under Alert Level 2 classification, restaurants and eateries may operate at a maximum of 50 percent indoor venue capacity for fully vaccinated individuals and those below 18 years of age, even if unvaccinated, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) guidelines.
Establishments may also operate at 70 percent outdoor venue capacity, the IATF-EID added.
Record weekend jabs
Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque on Monday said the Philippines recorded the highest number of vaccines administered on a weekend at 462,160 on Nov. 7.
“Alam naman natin na araw ng pahinga kasama ang pamilya ang weekend. Pero marami pa rin po ang pumunta sa vaccination sites at nagpabakuna. Maraming salamat po sa ating mga kababayan at sa ating mga dedicated na vaccinators (We know that weekend is rest day with our family. But still many trooped to vaccination sites to get vaccinated. We would like to thank our citizens and our vaccinators),” Roque said in his virtual Palace press briefing.
As of Nov. 7, more than 64.1 million total vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, according to data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard. Of this number, 38.21 percent or 29,477,961 individuals are fully vaccinated.
In the National Capital Region (NCR), 98.94 percent or more than 9 million individuals have received the first dose, while 89.85 percent or more than 8.7 million are fully vaccinated.
With the increasing number of people who are getting vaccinated and are willing to get jabbed with a COVID-19 vaccine, the national government is targeting to launch a three-day “National Vaccination Day” event this November as part of aggressive efforts to reach population protection.
Roque is confident that the population protection target can be attained given the increasing vaccine willingness among the Filipino people.
“Tumataas na po ang vaccine willingness ng ating mga kababayan sa bakuna. Ayon sa pinakahuling survey ng Social Weather Stations na isinagawa nitong Setyembre, mahigit anim sa sampung Pilipino or 64 percent ang willing na magpabakuna (Vaccine willingness increased. According to late Social Weather Stations survey this September, 64 percent of Filipinos are willing to get vaccinated),” Roque said.
The said percentage increased by nine points from 55 percent in June, and double from 32 percent in May this year, he added. (PNA)