House-to-house vax drive still being studied

MANILA – The National Task Force Against Covid-19 is currently “studying” the proposal to implement a house-to-house vaccination drive amid concerns over Covid-19 vaccine doses nearing expiration, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made this remark after President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said the government may embark on a “last minute” house-to-house Covid-19 vaccination program to ensure they are used before they expire.

Duterte said the government may also consider donating Covid-19 vaccines to countries experiencing a shortage of coronavirus jabs.

“Ito’y kasalukuyang pinag-aaralan pa sa level ng (This is currently being studied in the level of the) National Task Force Against Covid-19,” Andanar said in a Palace press briefing.

In his recent Talk to the People on Tuesday night, Duterte clarified that there is no “excess” of Covid-19 vaccines as reports claimed.

While the government procured the right number of doses for the target population for inoculation, he said there were still many Filipinos who refused to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Kung may mga Pilipino marami pa hindi pa nakapagbakuna o ayaw makipagbakuna e hindi naman kasalanan ng gobyerno (If there are many Filipinos that have not been vaccinated yet or refuse to get vaccinated, it’s not the government’s fault),” he said.

To date, the estimated vaccine wastage rate in the country is currently at 1.54 percent. This figure is below the 10 percent indicative wastage rate used by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Earlier, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said some 27 million Covid-19 vaccine doses are nearing expiry.

He urged the government to administer the vaccines as they are set to expire in July.

Meanwhile, Andanar renewed his call for the public to continue adhering to minimum public health standards after its neighbor, Thailand, recorded its first case of the “Omicron XE”, a variant of SARS-CoV-2 or the virus that causes Covid-19.

Omicron XE is a combination of two Omicron sub-variants – BA.1 and BA.

“Patuloy ang ginagawang pag-aaral sa XE bilang isang variant. Ang mahalaga ay sumunod sa minimum public health standards – mag-mask, hugas, iwas at magpabakuna (The government continues to study the XE as a new variant. What is important is we continue following minimum public health standards–wearing of masks, washing of hands, physical distancing, and getting vaccinated),” he added.

The WHO estimated that the Omicron XE is 10 percent more infectious than the BA.2. The severity of the new variant is still being investigated.

As of April 4, some 66.2 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated while 12.2 million have received their boosters.

The government aims to fully vaccinate at least 90 million of the country’s 110 million population before Duterte steps down on June 30.