Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 9) — The country is still far from lifting its minimum health protocols intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with only around 4% of the target population fully vaccinated, an adviser for the National Task Force against COVID-19 said.
“Mababa pa rin po iyan ano (That is still low), that’s only 4% fully protected Filipinos of our target 70 million,” pandemic task force adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa told Thursday’s Laging Handa briefing when asked when the government can lift COVID-19 restrictions given that 12 million Filipinos have received at least one dose of coronavirus shot.
The government’s adviser noted that of this number, around 9 million have received their first dose, and only 3 million their second dose.
“Ang target ho na mag-advise na tanggalin iyong mask at saka face shield ay pag umabot tayo ng 50% ng target population… so, mga between 40-50 million, nasa three million pa lang tayo,” Herbosa explained.
[Translation: Our target in order to lift the use of mask and face shield is we need to reach 50% of the target population, so between 40-50 million, we are only at three million.]
“So, siguro magtiis muna tayo,” he added.
[Translation: Let us endure this for now.]
The government started its immunization program about five months ago with the inoculation of the most vulnerable sectors — the health workers, senior citizens, and people with comorbidity.
However, vaccine hesitancy remains to be a challenge, especially in the A2 category, according to Herbosa.
“Mataas ang hesitancy, nakita namin, (We saw that hesitancy is high) among senior citizens,” he said.
READ: Vaccination rate among senior citizens remains low despite incentives
Latest data shows 98.74% of healthcare workers have received their first dose, while 43.08% of those with comorbidity have also received their first dose.
Evidently, vaccination rate among senior citizens is low compared to these groups, with 25.89% of the elderly having received their first shot.
In terms of the second dose, 70.78% of health workers have received both their doses, while 13.07% of those with comorbidity are now fully protected. Among senior citizens, only 8.12% are fully vaccinated.
Note that target number of senior citizens to be vaccinated is 9.8 million.
While the government hopes to immunize 70 million Filipinos this year to achieve herd immunity, it also set a target of vaccinating up to 60% of the population with much focus in Metro Manila to achieve population protection.
