Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 24) — Nearly 7 in 10 Filipinos hospitalized in the past six months due to a severe or critical case of COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated, the Department of Health reported on Tuesday.
Citing data on hospital discharge from November 5, 2021 to May 15, 2022, DOH chief epidemiologist Dr. Alethea de Guzman in a media briefing said 69%, or 8,041, of the 11,702 discharged patients tagged as severely or critically ill were either just partially or never inoculated during the time of admission.
De Guzman reiterated the government’s appeal for the public to get their anti-coronavirus shots, including the booster dose, as she also reported a slow increase in infections in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.
The official, however, also clarified that despite the uptick in cases, the Philippines remains at “minimal” risk for COVID-19.
According to the DOH website, active cases nationwide are at 2,235 after 149 more infections were added on Tuesday. In total, over 3.68 million cases have been logged since the start of the pandemic, including some 3.62 million recoveries and 60,455 deaths.
Over 69.3 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 13.8 million have received at least one booster dose.
