Delta variant cases raise concerns Philippines will be among last in Asia to reach herd immunity

The Department of Health's vaccine roll-out update showed 8,407,342 doses had been administered as of June 20, 2021. - Reuters

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): The Philippines has detected four more cases of the highly infectious Delta Covid-19 variant, prompting authorities to beef up border controls as a Britain-based think tank warned on Monday (June 21) that the country could be among the last in Asia to achieve herd immunity due to slow vaccine roll-out.

The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) said it has informed all of its units to be on guard against the Delta variant and placed the border controls on "heightened alert" to block further transmissions.