Day: May 9, 2023

A Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) official on Tuesday said vaccination for senior citizens in the region is a concern now that the World Health Organization (WHO) has lifted the global public health emergency. Dr. Joan Antonette Albito, DOH-7’s family health section officer, said the agency needs the help of families whose elderly members have not yet taken the primary doses of the vaccine so that they could be given ample protection against Covid-19. ‘The virus is still very much around. Our seniors are the most vulnerable of all sectors… The risk that we would revert back to the pandemic is still there. It’s too early to relax,’ she told reporters during the Open Line media forum hosted by Erik Espina. Albito told the Philippine News Agency in a massage that the latest DOH-7 record showed that only 61 percent of the region’s target population of senior citizens have been fully vaccinated while about 26 percent received their first booster jabs. She admitted that many of the elderly in the region would not want to get vaccinated, thus, the very low turnout of this sector in local vaccination sites here. With the help of the household members, Albito said the health department is hopeful of improving the vaccination count for the elderly sector. ‘We encourage vaccination because that’s the only way that we can sustain this public health emergency status. Without vaccination, the possibility of the risk of getting an outbreak is still there,’ she added. Meanwhile, the DOH medical officer said the lifting of the public health emergency is not a ‘permit’ for everyone to be complacent, even as she stressed that the possibility of contracting the virus is still high. She said there is no harm if the public would still observe the minimum health standards, especially the wearing of face masks, for the sake of people with health conditions.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Department of Health (DOH) is investigating the possibility of clustering of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). In a media briefing on Tuesday, DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said they were still validating the circulating reports about the number of persons deprived of liberty who have tested positive for Covid-19. “Although in our ESR (Event-based Surveillance and Response) reporting, ang natala pa rin sa amin ay isa. So ibig sabihin, hindi pa nila nare-report itong (we have logged only one so it is not yet reported to us, these) clusters of infection,” she said. “Pinapuntahan na po natin ito sa ating Center for Health Development (We instructed the Center for Health Development to visit the NBP) so they can investigate.” The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) suspended the visitation privileges of PDLs at the NBP and the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City where one staff member was found to have tested positive for Covid-19 on May 3. Consequently, the BuCor conducted rapid antigen tests on 2,216 PDLs at the NBP in Mandaluyong City. Of the tally, about 16 tested positive for Covid-19 as of Monday afternoon. They were transferred from their cells to isolation wards. Meanwhile, 11 out of 50 NBP employees tested positive for Covid-19. They were given medical prescriptions and instructed to isolate in their homes. Vergeire said Covid-19 testing is part of health protocols, especially in congregated settings, such as prison cells. Apart from tests, she said, the PDLs and the employees must be fully vaccinated and must be provided added protection, such as face masks, to prevent possible transmission. “The employees in this kind of setup should know what to do right away. There should be this close monitoring and vigilance among our inmates and patients,” she said.

Source: Philippines News Agency