DOH bats for ‘stronger’ vaccination drive after US CDC notice

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday pushed for a stronger vaccination campaign after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tagged the Philippines as a Level 3 destination for a “high level” of COVID-19.

In a statement, DOH said that the Philippine’s current COVID-19 situation was already far from that in 2020 when at the onset of the pandemic, risk classifications were used to restrict border entry into the country.

The DOH said almost all borders around the world were now open, considering the development of COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots.

“With this, the DOH highlights the importance of a stronger vaccination campaign to build and reinforce our country’s wall of immunity,” the DOH said.

DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the vaccines would prevent severe and critical diseases brought by the coronavirus infection.

“Now that we are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, it is important and crucial that we keep Filipinos safe and protected against severe and critical forms of the disease,” Vergeire said.

“The Department reiterates that vaccination, coupled with strict adherence to minimum public health standards, is key to prevent further virus transmission,” she added.

In categorizing the Philippines with a high level of COVID-19, the US CDC said those who were not up to date with their vaccine shots should avoid travel to the country

It also said those who have weakened immune systems or are at increased risk for severe disease should talk to their doctors and consider delaying travel to the Philippines even if they were up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.

This came after the US CDC observed that the Philippines had more than 100 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over the past 28 days.

The DOH said that the Philippines used a different set of metrics to determine COVID-19 risk classifications in the country, compared to those used by the US CDC.

It said that the Philippines focuses on the average daily attack rate in the recent two weeks, and the healthcare system capacity. It also considers the total beds utilization rate and vaccination coverage in determining alert levels for different areas.

“At present, the country remains at low risk classification in terms of both the ADAR and total beds utilization rate,” DOH said.

Vergeire has allayed concerns on the CDC’s travel advisory, saying that it was aligned with that of the country.

The Philippines requires foreign travelers a full vaccination against COVID-19, except only for minors below 12 years of age traveling with their fully-vaccinated foreign parents, before entering the country.

Based on DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, there are now 71.5 million Filipinos who are fully vaccinated. Of this number, 17.3 million have received their booster shots.  —NB, GMA News