Marcos Oks lifting of public health emergency status

MANILA - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved in principle the lifting of the country’s public health emergency status and is expected to issue an executive order soon, according to Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.

He said the President is keen on lifting the health emergency. “Yes, actually, this was one of his first instructions to me, to really get out of the COVID pandemic,” he told reporters during a recent briefing in Malacañang.

Herbosa said he is just awaiting an Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) resolution issued by his predecessor. “So, if that is not yet signed, I will follow it up with a reiteration. Because I think, at that time, they were still hesitant because there was still the problem of how we get the bivalent if we lift it. But now, I think that obstacle is gone, kasi may CPR (certificate of product registration) na tayo and everything,” he said.

What happens now, he said, is that the risk is passed on to individuals especially after the World Health Organization (WHO) removed COVID-19 from the list of public health emergencies of international concern.

The world health body, Herbosa said, now considers COVID-19 as one of the diseases and even the doctors now also consider it as just one of the respiratory illnesses. “There is still the risk of death for vulnerable people, which is the elderly and those with medical conditions, immunocompromised. But the number of deaths has really declined,” he said.

Although the IATF already recommended the lifting, Herbosa said the Office of the President has to study some other considerations such as the consequences of the official lifting of the health emergency status, including the effectivity of Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to get the bivalents.

But with Pfizer being given a CPR by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration, the bivalent vaccines are now going to be commercially available. There is delay, however, as Pfizer is looking for the retailers that have the minus 7-degree freezers required for storage, according to Herbosa.

“I don’t know how Pfizer will do this but, eventually, it will require a physician’s prescription and then you can purchase it from them and you can also get access to bivalent vaccines. But for the poor, we’re still negotiating with COVAX for two million doses so that we can still be able to give to those who cannot afford to buy the bivalent,” he said.

As to the monovalent vaccines previously given EUA, Herbosa said the government could still distribute them to the public for free and they are still valid as booster doses although most of the demand now is the bivalent vaccines because of their efficacy against newer COVID-19 variants. 

Only last month, Marcos renewed calls for Filipinos to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as their way of protecting the vulnerable sector. He underscored the importance of the government’s vaccination program to protect those with comorbidities and the elderly.

He said getting the COVID-19 vaccine is not only good for the one who received it, but is also good for the protection of one’s family and the general public. “So, we must not let our guard down. Although the rest of society – the other sectors of our society have tried to move on and say the emergency is over and certainly in a way we can say that is the case. However, it is not over completely,” he said back then.

“And that is why we should not be complacent and that is why we institute programs like this, which continue to seek to protect our vulnerable populace, (the) vulnerable sectors of our populace and that particular demographic in this case is that of the elderly,” he added.

Records from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that the Philippines has fully vaccinated 100.44% of the target population and inoculated 30.49% of the target population with the first booster doses. With this, the DOH was prompted to continue securing supplies of the bivalent vaccines in coordination with the COVAX and with other countries to protect the Filipino people from the virus and prevent its possible resurgence and transmission.

The bivalent vaccines will be given as 3rd booster dose to the priority groups such as healthcare workers and elderly who are 18 years old and above and shall be administered in designated health facilities. (Mindanao Examiner)