Better Christmas seen in Philippines due to higher COVID-19 vaccination —OCTA

Christmas this year could be better than last year in terms of dealing with COVID-19, a fellow of the OCTA Research Group said on Thursday.

In a public briefing, Dr. Butch Ong said people were now more aware of the preventive measures against the coronavirus disease.

“Our vaccination actually ay mas mataas na compared to last year, the number of vaccination is really higher, and ‘yung ating current variant, mostly asymptomatic to mild disease,” Ong said.

(Our vaccination numbers are actually higher compared to last year, and the current  COVID-19 variant results in mostly asymptomatic to mild diseases.)

“Ang ating mga mamamayan ay more attuned na to the preventive measures for safety. Maaaring mas maganda ang ating Kapaskuhan ngayong taon na ito. ‘Wag lang tayo magpabaya sa ating mga safety measures,” he added.

(Our citizens are more attuned to preventive measures for safety. Our Christmas season may be better this year, but let's not neglect the safety measures.)

Among the minimum public health standards that the Department of Health (DOH) has been constantly reminding the people to observe is the wearing of face masks.

Malacañang on Wednesday said that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) had recommended making optional the wearing of face masks in open spaces or non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation.

This, on the condition that the COVID-19 booster uptake in the country improves.

DOH officer-in-charge Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said Thursday that the agency preferred that people keep wearing their face masks despite this proposal.

Based on the DOH’s national COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 72.6 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Tuesday, September 7. Meanwhile, only 18.3 million have received their booster shots. —NB,GMA News