The Department of Health (DOH) urged all eligible Filipinos to receive their COVID-19 vaccine as it offers protection against the variants of coronavirus, particularly the Delta variant.
DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said most people who developed the severe form of COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
“In the United States they see that almost 98 percent of those being hospitalized now and having severe cases are those who are not vaccinated,” she said in a public briefing on Saturday, July 24.
"Most of these individuals na talagang naapektuhan nitong Delta variant sa ibang bansa ay hindi mga bakunado. So, iyan lang ay nagpapakita na kailangan natin ang bakuna para tayo ay maprotektahan (who have been affected by this Delta variant in other countries are not vaccinated. So, that just shows that we need the vaccine to protect us) against severe illness and death," she said.
Vergeire reiterated that all vaccines approved in the Philippines are effective and safe.
The government is currently ramping up its COVID-19 immunization drive, said Vergeire.
"In fact, last July 22, we were able to vaccinate almost 500,000 individuals in just one day. We are now averaging almost 300,000 vaccinations per day in a seven-day moving average," she said.
"Hopefully, mas mapataas pa natin para lalong makapagprotekta ng ating population (we can vaccinate more to protect our population)," she added.