BARMM may experience 'mini surge' of Covid-19 cases due to low vax rate—DOH exec
There is a possibility that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) may experience a "mini surge" of Covid-19 cases given its current vaccination rate, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said.

"Yes, there’s always that possibility of a mini-surge kasi alam naman natin na importante ang pagbabakuna (Yes, there's always that possibility of a mini-surge. As all we know, vaccination is important)," said DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje during a public briefing on Wednesday, April 13.
The BARMM's current vaccination coverage rate is at 32.28 percent, Cabotaje said.
"Napakalaki ng challenge nila, how to increase coverage from 32.28 , kahit mag-increase man lang sa 50 or 60 , although, ang ultimate goal ay 80 (There is a huge challenge on how to increase the coverage from 32.28 to at least 50 or 60 , although the ultimate goal is 80 )," said Cabotaje.
"Marami na tayong mga ginawang hakbang para ma-improve (We've taken a lot of steps to improve the )," she added.
Recently, the government conducted special vaccination days to inoculate more people in BARMM.
Holy Week vaccination
In a related development, Cabotaje said that they already urged the different Covid-19 vaccination sites in the country to continue their operations this Holy Week.
"Opo. May direktiba na po tayo sa ating mga Regional Office para tulungan o gawin ang pagbabakuna sa iba’t ibang mga lugar lalung-lalo na buksan sana iyong ating mga ospital especially our DOH hospitals at i-encourage din iyong mga LGU hospitals na mag-provide ng mga bakuna (Yes. We already have a directive in our Regional Offices to help in or conduct vaccinations in various areas, especially to open our hospitals—particularly the DOH hospitals, and also encourage LGU hospitals to provide vaccination),” she said.
"There will be some areas that will have vaccination team pero hindi naman natin minandate itong ating mga (but we did not mandate our) LGUs... It has been voluntary to make vaccination sites available in many of these areas," she added.