President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. called Department of Health (DOH) officials for a meeting in Malacañang to ensure that vaccinating the population against Covid-19 continues amid plans to fully reopen schools by November this year.
The meeting took place as Marcos has yet to appoint a Health secretary while different parts of the country are experiencing a rise in Covid-19 cases.
In a Facebook post, President Marcos said he also met with members of the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and PhilHealth to discuss the pressing issue of vaccination.
"Habang masusi at maingat ang pagpili sa susunod na magiging kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, ating tinipon ang mga kasamahan natin mula sa DOH, IATF, at Philhealth upang masiguro na ang pagbabakuna at booster shots ay tuloy-tuloy at lalong inilalapit sa taumbayan (While we are carefully choosing the next Health secretary, we met with officials from the DOH, IATF, and PhilHealth to ensure the continuation of vaccination and administration of booster shots and make them accessible to the public)," he wrote.
Their meeting took place in Malacañang on Wednesday morning, July 6.
Meanwhile, Communications Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the issue of vaccination was addressed during the first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and that they will reveal more information about the discussion on July 7.
According to Angeles, vaccination is an important topic of discussion, especially since Vice President Sara Duterte, who also heads the Department of Education (DepEd), is eyeing the full resumption of face-to-face classes before the year ends.
"It (Vaccination) is an essential part of returning to face-to-face classes. We will discuss this further," she said on Wednesday.
"We're expecting the Department of Education to issue their department order pursuant to face-to-face classes and an additional announcement also from the DOH on the vaccination program," she added.
On Monday, July 4, Angeles said Marcos was already in the final stages of selecting his Health secretary, saying the President was aware of the position's importance in the country's fight against Covid-19.