Expert: COVID-19 protocols should be maintained despite vaccines

Minimum public health standards should be strictly observed even after getting a COVID-19 vaccine because doing otherwise would make achieving herd immunity more difficult, a health expert said.

Dr. Anna Ong Lim of Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 made the reminder as the country braced for the rollout of its unprecedented COVID-19 vaccination program next month.

“The higher our reproduction rate [of COVID-19 cases], the higher number of people we have to immunize to achieve herd immunity,” Lim said in an online briefing.

According to the OCTA Research Group, the country’s latest reproduction rate was 1.13. The Philippine population, meanwhile, was around 110 million.

Achieving herd immunity would thus require vaccinating 60 to 70 percent of the population.

“Kaya hindi porket meron ng bakuna, tapos na ang problema. Kailangan pababain natin ng husto ang bilang ng mga kaso sa atin bansa para mas mabilis natin maabot iyong prokteksiyon na ating kinakailangan,” Lim added.

Lim said that keeping COVID-19 cases low would require observing physical distancing, staying in well-ventilated areas, washing hands frequently, wearing face masks and shield properly, and limiting conversation time.

The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program would start next month, with health workers getting the first jab since they were the most exposed to the virus.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that they had identified 4,512 fixed vaccination points in the country.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., however, admitted that the bulk of the country's vaccine supply would only arrive by July this year and that the brand of COVID-19 vaccine that would be deployed to areas would depend on the storage requirements of the brand.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines had a -20 to -80 degree Celsius storage requirement —limiting their use to Metro Manila, the cities of Cebu and Davao, as well as some areas in regions of Central Luzon and Calabarzon.

Only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine had an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA found it 95% and 92% effective on study populations and among all races, respectively—a requirement before a vaccine can be administered in the country.

Galvez said that 70 million Filipinos will get a COVID-19 vaccine within the year in a best-case scenario.

Galvez also assured the public that the Philippine government would be securing 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from seven vaccine makers, which so far included Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, Novovax, Johnson and Johnson, Gamaleya, and Bharat BioTech. — DVM, GMA News