Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that the government's vaccination program against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may eventually result in the relaxation of quarantine classifications in the country.

Nograles made the statement as the Philippines awaits the arrival of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility next week.

In an interview with State-run PTV-4 on Wednesday, Nograles said the vaccination program will result in a lower number of COVID-19 cases-- one of the factors that determine a locality's quarantine classification.

"Inaasahan natin kung magkaroon po ng massive rollout ng vaccination, bababa po yung cases of infection. So ito yung-- ganoon pa rin yung titignan natin. Yun pa rin ang basis (We expect that once we start the massive vaccination rollout, the number of infections will drop. That is one of the things we're looking at)," he said.

"Unti-unting makikita natin na bumababa ang mga kaso kasi nagkakaroon ng (We will see a gradual decrease in the number of cases because we would have by then achieved) herd immunity within communities," he added.

Aside from the number of cases, the factors the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases are considering when recommending quarantine classifications are the virus attack rate, growth rate, and healthcare capacity.

Nograles said the numbers may go down due to the vaccination program.

"Ito yung inaasahn natin na magiging effect ng vaccination rollout, yung pag-flatten ng curve. Dito natin makikita na magshi-shift na yung ibang localities (We expect the COVID-19 curve to flatten as an effect of the vaccination rollout. This will determine how localities will shift quarantine classifications)," he said.

New normal

Meanwhile, Nograles said the IATF was yet to define the "New Normal" quarantine classification or the classification after the least strict modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

"Hindi pa namin nade-define ang New Normal kasi wala pa kaming nakikita na zero ang (We have not defined the New Normal yet because we haven't seen zero) growth rate, infection rate, attack rate, for consecutive weeks," he said.

"Hanggang hindi namin nakikita 'yan, hindi pa kami maka-define ng New Normal (Unless we see that, we cannot define the New Normal just yet)," he added.

Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Batangas Province, Tacloban City, Davao City, Davao Del Norte, Lanao Del Sur, and Iligan City are under GCQ while the rest of the country is under MGCQ.