National Task Force (NTF) Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Vince Dizon said Monday, Sept. 20, that the country's high vaccination rate is protecting people against severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"I think all data from the expert point to the fact that it is really the vaccination program, especially in key cities where the vaccination rate is already very high, that is saving us from the Delta variant," Dizon said during President Rodrigo Duterte's Talk to the People.
"The high vaccination rate is really protecting people from getting severe COVID-19. Dahil po bakunado ang mga kababayan natin, hindi po malala ang kanilang sakit. Therefore they do not require the kind of hospital care that was previously required whenever someone gets COVID without the vaccine," he added.
Dizon called on the public to still observe minimum health protocols because he stressed that even with the vaccines, the Delta variant is still "very contagious."
To date, some 18.56 million, or 24 percent of the eligible target population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.