DOH: 333 temporary COVID-19 vax sites were set up for election day

At least 333 temporary COVID-19 vaccination sites were set up near polling precincts on Monday, election day, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

At a news briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergerie said a total of 7,407 individuals were inoculated against COVID-19 at these sites.

“Bagaman abala lahat sa pagpili ng bagong pinuno kahapon sa halalan 2022, abala rin po ang DOH sa pagtuturok ng bakuna dahil nakapagtayo po tayo ng vaccination sites courtesy of our local government units,” Vergeire said.

(Although everyone was busy choosing the new leader yesterday in the 2022 election, the DOH is also busy administering COVID-19 jabs because we have built vaccination sites courtesy of our local government units.)

Also, she noted that the health department observed violations of public health protocols, particularly social distancing, during the elections.

“We recognize and we have observed na may mga voting areas kahapon na hindi nasusunod sa ating mga itinalagang safety protocols [that there were voting areas yesterday that did not comply with our designated safety protocols]. But we are closely monitoring the situation. We have seen violations,” the health official said.

However, Vergerie maintained that even if physical distancing was not completely followed, as long as people were vaccinated, wore their face masks properly, and polling precincts were well-ventilated, the risk of COVID-19 transmission was lower.

She said the public would see in the next two weeks if the overcrowding in campaign rallies and polling sites resulted in an increase in infections.

“We have already updated our projections. Kapag bumaba po as much as 30% to 50% ang compliance of minimum health standards maaari pong magkaroon tayo ng pagtaas ng kaso by the end of May,” she said.

(We have already updated our projections. If the compliance of minimum health standards drops as much as 30 to 50, we may have an increase in cases by the end of May.)

“So, we will closely monitor. We know that the incubation period of the virus is 14 days. But we also know that because of this variant [omicron] it may be shorter than 14 days,” she added.

The DOH earlier said that a 50% decrease in the compliance of minimum public health standards (MPHS) in the National Capital Region (NCR) may result in 25,000 to 60,000 new COVID-19 cases per day by mid-May.

Based on the models, a 20% decrease in MPHS compliance nationwide may lead to around 34,788 active COVID-19 cases by mid-May. According to the DOH, over 564 of these cases could be classified as severe and 267 as critical.

Meanwhile, a 30% decrease in MPHS compliance might increase the cases further, possibly to as high as 300,000 over the same period. — BM, GMA News