Vaccine likely to work on new strain of COVID, expert eases fears

An infectious disease expert on Sunday has allayed concerns that currently available vaccines against COVID-19 would not work against the new UK (UK) strain of coronavirus. Dr. Mario Panaligan, president of the Philippine College of Physicians, said in a Dobol B sa News TV interview that a COVID-19 vaccine would allow a person to develop enough antibodies to protect themselves from the new coronavirus even when it has already mutated. “We should not fear that our vaccine is no longer effective because we have many antibodies that we can produce when we get vaccinated,” he said in Filipino. The new strain of coronavirus detected in the UK was reported to be 70 percent more transmissible than SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said there is no evidence yet that the new strain causes COVID-19 to be more serious.

Cases drop because labs don’t send results

The Philippines registered 883 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total to 469,886, as 15 laboratories did not submit their data on time, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Sunday. The DOH reported 42 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 9,109, which is 1.94 percent of total cases. DOH also reported 7,635 new recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 438,678, which is 93.4 percent of total cases. This left 22,099 active cases, which is 4.7 of the total cases. Of the active cases, 80.2 percent are mild cases; 9.9% are asymptomatic; 6.2 percent are critical; 3.2 percent are serious; and 0.43 percent are moderate.

Moderna increases production – Locsin

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Sunday that the American biotech company Moderna is accelerating its production for a large shipment of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines. Citing information from the Philippine ambassador to Washington, Locsin said Moderna and another company, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., are willing to supply up to 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines in the third quarter of 2021. Coronavirus vaccine de Moderna previously received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration, which will allow the pharmaceutical company to apply for an EUA in the Philippines. Previously, the government and private companies signed a supply agreement with the British pharmaceutical AstraZeneca involving at least 2 million doses.

Customs ordered to expedite vaccine clearance

ALBAY representative Joey Salceda urged Customs on Sunday to expedite the processing of COVID-19 vaccines and related supplies, such as syringes for direct use in vaccination.

He said this would encourage the private sector to bid for vaccines together with the government. “We need all the vaccines we can get, and if the private sector can increase our supplies, we should make it easier for them,” he said. Salceda said the “super green lane processing” would allow for a single day clearance. Specific rules for COVID-19 vaccines may be needed to extend qualification to accredited importers of COVID-19 vaccines, while ensuring safeguards are in place to prevent abuse of the system, Salceda said. It previously called for duty and duty-free importation of COVID-19 vaccines to speed up their acquisition and launch.

Children prohibited in Rizal park

The administrator of Rizal (Luneta) Park in Manila said on Saturday that children will no longer be able to enter the park amid the COVID-19 pandemic and that there will be no fireworks display. “At this time, for the safety of the people, we will not allow them to go there with children,” said Cecille Lorenzana Romero, park administrator, in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. For the upcoming New Year, no event has been scheduled at Rizal Park, Romero said. “The New Year in Luneta will be silent, without fireworks,” he said in Filipino. The park will also limit visitors to 2,000 at a time and vendors will not be allowed inside the park.

Funding for vaccines is not enough: legislator

Party list representative Mike Defensor on Sunday expressed disappointment that the House of Representatives failed to allocate additional funding for vaccine procurement despite the P183 billion realignment by the bicameral conference committee in the “scheduled” or tax-funded portion of the proposal. P4.5 billion of the national budget for 2021. He said that Congress kept the vaccine procurement fund at P2.5 billion as proposed by Malacañang, and that the increase fund of P72 billion was placed under the “non scheduled “in the 2021 national budget or programs that can be implemented only if funds are available. Meanwhile, House Majority Leader and Rep. Of Leyte, Martin Romualdez, on Sunday praised the strength and resilience of the Filipinos that he said would help them recover from the devastating effects of COVID- 19. He said the ability of Filipinos to survive disasters in the past, such as powerful earthquakes and strong typhoons, would always serve as an inspiration to overcome present and future calamities and conflicts.