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Vaccine expert: We are not yet off the hook, the threat of Covid-19 remains
Vaccine expert: We are not yet off the hook, the threat of Covid-19 remains
Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) Chairperson Dr. Nina Gloriani, on Thursday, April 21, once again stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and adhering to minimum public health standards as the threat of Covid-19 lingers.
“Sinasabi natin paulit-ulit na hindi pa tayo off the hook marami pang bansa na tumataas ang kaso at malapit lang sila sa atin. Nandyan pa ang threat at kung may mga bago pang mage-emerge na variants ay makakatulong ang plus the minimum public health standards (We say over and over again that we are not yet off the hook and there are many other countries where the case is on the rise and they are just close to us. The threat is still there and if there are new emerging variants, vaccines plus the minimum public health standards will help) ,” said Gloriani during the “Laging Handa” public briefing.
The Department of Health’s (DOH) National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed that as of April 18, only 12,970,445 Filipinos have so far been boosted against the disease.
The tally does not reach halfway through the 66,990,999 individuals who have so far received the “complete primary dose” of the vaccines.
Meanwhile, Gloriani said that the government is having a hard time to reach the unvaccinated population, but it is “trying its best to reach the goal.”
“Paulit-ulit lang namin na ‘yung mga hindi pa nababakunahan – priority po kayo. Lalo na ang mga seniors natin kasi kayo ‘yung mao-ospital at mas ang magiging Covid-19 kung sakali (We are reminding those who have not been vaccinated – you are a priority. Especially our seniors because you are the ones who will be hospitalized and suffer from severe Covid-19 if infected),” she said.
“After makakuha ng primary dose, magpa-booster po kayo kasi malinaw ang data na nakakatulong ang third dose at mayroon din po tayong priority groups na bibigyan ng fourth dose o second booster jab (After getting the primary dose, get boosted because the data is clear that the third dose helps and we also have priority groups that will be given the fourth dose or second booster jab),” Gloriani furthered.