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MANILA – Malacañang expressed confidence on Thursday that Filipinos will still experience a “better” Christmas this year despite the presence of a more infectious Delta coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant.
“Confident pa rin tayo for a better Christmas,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online press briefing.
Roque issued the statement, as he noted over 10 million individuals have received vaccines against Covid-19 nationwide.
“We have exceeded the 10 million mark for vaccination,” he said. “And we’re confident that with more supplies of the vaccine coming in, mas maraming mabibigyan ng proteksyon (many more will be given protection) and we can move towards containment and a better Christmas this year.”
Around 7,538,128 of the 10,065,414 individuals have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while the remaining 2,527,286 have been fully vaccinated as of June 27.
Despite the discovery of new Covid-19 variants, Roque said the government was able to manage the recent surge of coronavirus infections in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8 by prioritizing them in the vaccine deployment.
The NCR Plus 8 is composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Batangas, and Pampanga.
“We have managed the Covid cases in Metro Manila Plus 8 na naging kuta talaga ng Covid-19 (with high Covid-19 cases),” Roque said.
The Philippines has so far received a total of 17,455,470 Covid-19 vaccines.
The country is also expected to receive over 13 million vials of Covid-19 vaccine in July.
National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. ensured Wednesday that coronavirus vaccine portfolio went through a “rigorous’” review and scrutiny by the vaccine expert panel. (PNA)
