Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed on Wednesday, Feb. 2, the country’s “endgame” or final plan to beat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic after two years into the battle against the deadly disease that has claimed the lives of more than 50,000 Filipinos.

Galvez, in a press briefing in Cebu City, said that the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, which he heads as its chief implementer, is now preparing for an endemic response instead of a pandemic response, and a crucial part of it is “learning how to live” with the coronavirus.

“Ilalatag na po natin ang ating endgame or ang transition from pandemic to endemic. Nakita natin na even though mataas ang Omicron, hindi tayo nabahala kasi karamihan ay mild (We are now revealing our endgame or the transition from pandemic to endemic. We have seen that even though we had a surge due to Omicron, we were not concerned because most of the cases were mild),” he said during the launching of the “Bakunahan sa Botika” at Rose Pharmacy in Cebu City.

According to Galvez, this means that the government has accepted the fact that COVID-19 is here to stay and the best way to deal with the situation is to adapt to it by treating it as an endemic instead of a pandemic.

Endemic, according to the world-leading dictionary publisher Oxford Languages, means that a particular disease or condition, such as COVID-19, is “regularly found among particular people or in a certain area.”

Endemic differs from pandemic in such a way that the latter means a “worldwide spread of a new disease,” suggesting that a newly discovered disease or condition is beginning to affect the world. COVID-19 is treated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Galvez said that part of the endgame strategy is to make vaccines more available to the people. The vaccines, he said, were the difference-maker in the country’s pandemic response since it protected millions of Filipinos from severe infection and death.

The NTF launched the vaccination in select pharmacies and private clinics in Metro Manila last month to make the vaccines more accessible to the Filipino people. Now, the government is expanding it to other regions by including more pharmacies and clinics in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

“Darating ang araw na kapag commercialized na ang ating mga vaccines, ito ay pupunta na sa ating mga pharmacy (The day will come when the vaccines will be commercialized and these will be available in the pharmacies),” the vaccine czar said.

Further, Galvez said that the NTF has also started shifting the focus of its policies from a “centralized” or national government-centered approach to “self-management” where the public and the communities are now more involved.

“Ang aming paalala, we have to transform now from strict quarantine into self-management o self-isolation (Our reminder is that we have to transform now from strict quarantine into self-management or self-isolation),” he explained.

This was part of the reason why the government scrapped the mandatory quarantine protocol for arriving international passengers so they can self-monitor in the comfort of their homes, and report their status to local barangay officials if they experience symptoms, he said.

“Kailangan lang magkaroon ng self-regulation and then katulad ng Cebu, ang barangay response at community response napakalakas naman. From national-centered policy, kailangan ang ano natin is self-regulation at community response ang palakasin natin (We just need to have self-regulation like in Cebu, the barangay and community responses are very strong. From a national-centered policy, we need to have a stronger self-regulation and community response),” Galvez emphasized.

“Wala na ang quarantine protocols, sa ating ROFs pwede na sila pumunta sa bahay at magself-monitoring. Ang responsibility binibigay na natin sa mga indibibdwal, sa LGU , sa mga corporations, sa mga pamilya. Iyon ang way forward (There are no more quarantine protocols, even our ROFs are now allowed to go straight to their home upon arrival to self-monitor. We now give the responsibility to each and every individual, to the LGU, to the corporations, to the families. That is the way forward),” he added.

“Hindi sustainable na ang lahat ng paghihigpit ay ginagawa ng national. There will come a time na ang mga tao ay bibigyan natin sila ng leeway at responsibility to live with the virus (It is not sustainable that all the restrictions will come from the national . There will come a time that we would have to give to the people the leeway and responsibility to live with the virus),” he concluded.