Philippines govt plans special vaccination days in areas with low immunisation coverage as cases continue to drop

People wearing face masks as protection against Covid-19 virus ride a train as the country's capital region eases coronavirus restrictions, in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. - Reuters

MANILA, March 19 (Philippines Daily Inquirer/ANN): The government is planning to hold special vaccination days before the end of March in areas with low immunisation coverage.

National Vaccination Operations Centre Co-lead Dr. Kezia Lorraine Rosario explained that the special vaccination days will be a targeted approach compared to the national vaccination days which are done across the whole country.

"What we saw is we can launch special vaccination days in certain areas,” she said in a public briefing in the capital.

"Our team, with Undersecretary Myrna, is planning to conduct special vaccination days, most likely before the end of the month, in Cebu province because it has the highest number of unvaccinated people."

Aside from Cebu, the government is looking to roll out special vaccination days in parts of Mindanao.

“We are also looking at the areas in Mindanao, specifically Lanao del Sur, the [Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] areas... and also certain provinces in Region 12,” said Rosario.

To date, the country has conducted four national vaccination days since November last year.

The government is aiming to fully vaccinate 70 million individuals by the end of March.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported a low 545 new Covid-19 infections on Friday (March 18) bringing the number of confirmed cases in the South-East Asian country to 3,673,201.

The DOH said the death toll from Covid-19 complications now reached 57,999.

"The Covid-19 cases are now on a slow decline," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online briefing, noting that the total bed utilization is at low risk, and the country's intensive care utilization is steadily declining.

The DOH has reported under 1,000 daily cases since March 2 as the Omicron wave, which peaked in mid-January, ebbed. It reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15, with 39,004 new cases.

The Philippines, with around 110 million population, has tested nearly 27 million people.