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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House leader urges Robredo to expand vaccine express to cover Mindanao, Visayas

House leader urges Robredo to expand vaccine express to cover Mindanao, Visayas

Published Jun 23, 2021 09:55 am

Vice President Leni Robredo should expand her Vaccine Express vaccination project drive-through to include Visayas and Mindanao where there have been reported surges of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said on Wednesday, June 23.

Rodriguez appealed to the vice president a day after she unveiled her latest pandemic response intervention program in partnership with the Manila City government.

“The vice president should include cities in Mindanao and Visayas such as Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo where COVID-19 cases are increasing, instead of Manila, which has already given so much vaccines to its residents,” said Rodriguez, a Cagayan de Oro City representative.

The solon said any pandemic response measures, like vaccination, should now be redirected to provinces experiencing outbreaks.

Rodriguez noted the numbers of COVID-19 positive cases in Metro Manila or National Capital Region (NCR) have either plateaued or rising and falling by just a small margin.

He said the latest OCTA research group report has cited several cities in Mindanao and Visayas already as “areas of concern” particlarly, Davao City, Bacolod, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro and Tacloban.

The same study also stated that hospital bed occupancy are already at critical level in the hospitals in Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, Tuguegarao, Dasmariñas, Butuan, Tacloban, Roxas City and Polomolok.

On the other hand, the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the hospitals in Davao City, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Tagum, Cotabato City, San Pablo, Koronadal, Batangas City and Santa Rosa are also deemed at critical level or above 85 percent utilization.

“(This) shows the severity of the pandemic in areas outside imperial Metro Manila, which has been receiving much of the attention of the national government and the bulk of Covid-19 vaccines,” Rodriguez lamented.

“Let us not ignore the situation in the provinces. And let us not forget that Metro Manila is not safe as long as there are people in areas outside the capital region getting the virus,” he pointed out.

Earlier on, the lawmaker had asked the Department of Health (DOH) for more vaccines and ventilators for Cagayan de Oro in the wake of a COVID-19 case surge in the city.

Related Tags

Vaccine Express VP Leni Robredo Department of Health (DOH) covid-19 vaccination program pandemic response Rufus Rodriguez COVID-19 surge
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