PFIZER VAX ROLLOUT. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III administers the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to an 87-year-old dialysis patient Juana Ramos during the ceremonial rollout of the US-made jabs at the Makati Medical Center on Thursday (May 13, 2021). He said the goal of the government is to bring down the Covid-19 cases to less than 2,000 a day nationwide. (PNA photos by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) is set to sign a deal with Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) to put up a mega vaccination facility in Parañaque City, Secretary Francisco Duque III said Thursday.
Duque, who is one of the primary signatories of the agreement, said legal paperwork for the agreement is currently being readied.
"But we are ready to sign the memorandum of agreement to convert the Nayong Pilipino site into a major/huge vaccination site," he said during the ceremonial rollout of US-made Pfizer vaccines at the Makati Medical Center in Makati City.
Meanwhile, Duque confirmed that there is a downward trend in the number of Covid-19 cases.
“We need to work together to sustain the downward trend, the goal is to bring it down to lower than 2,000 cases per day -- which was the pre-surge number,” he said.
The DOH wants to bring down cases to less than 500 within Metro Manila, he added.
"Kaya natin (We can do it)," Duque noted.
Duque thanked the public for adhering to the minimum health standards such as wearing face masks and face shields, practicing regular handwashing, and avoiding crowded places.
He further noted the public's discipline has contributed a lot to the decline of coronavirus cases, particularly in the National Capital Region and nearby provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer and testing czar Vince Dizon also lauded the local government units (LGUs) for being at the forefront of Covid-19 pandemic responses.
"If the LGUs and national government did not intervene -- with the cooperation of the public -- that could have been just sky-rocketed uncontrollably and we've seen it in countries, we've seen it in India, we've seen it in Latin America, we've seen it in many other countries throughout the world, even Japan is now going through the increase of cases," he said.
Dizon noted that LGUs’ interventions to address the previous Covid-19 surge have worked.
The Metro Manila's positivity rate of 30 percent is now down to 11 percent, he said, while the Philippines' positivity rate that reached 26 percent, is now down to 12 percent.
Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to the Philippines, also reminded the public of the need to observe health protocols even after getting vaccinated.
"We only know that the vaccines are effective against preventing severe diseases and death so it still important that even though we are vaccinated we continue to follow the minimum public health standards of hand hygiene, wearing of masks and face shields, physical distancing, avoiding crowded or congested settings," Abeyasinghe said. (PNA)
