DOH chief wants COVID-19 health emergency lifted

MANILA, Philippines — With COVID no longer a serious national health issue, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa is planning to recommend to President Marcos the lifting of the state of public health emergency, but with the alert level system retained.

In an interview, Herbosa said Proclamation No. 922 issued by former president Rodrigo Duterte may now have to be lifted, with “COVID-19 being no longer different from the other diseases the Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring.”

“With the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no longer an emergency. So I would actually ask (for) the lifting of the public health emergency,” Herbosa said.

“Actually, it really seems that it is no longer a public health emergency. There is no more public health emergency... So we want it lifted,” he said. “It is now just one of the diseases that we monitor, like influenza, cough, colds, etc.”

However, he said he is in favor of retaining the alert level system for COVID-19.

“The alert level system will stay. That’s a system like the typhoon signal,” he said.

The WHO declared COVID-19 as a “public health emergency of international concern” on Jan. 30, 2020. It lifted the global emergency status for COVID-19 on May 5 this year.

In the Philippines, Proclamation No. 922 issued on March 8, 2020 shall remain in effect until the President lifts it.

Proclamation 929, issued on March 16, 2020, declared a COVID-related state of calamity nationwide. It remained in effect until Dec. 31, 2022.

The country recorded close to 3,500 COVID-19 infections in the past week, the DOH reported.

The latest COVID-19 Bulletin issued by the DOH showed 3,442 new cases logged from June 19 to 25.

The DOH also recorded 37 patients in severe and critical condition, and no COVID-19 death from June 5 to 18.

The daily average number of new COVID-19 cases is 492, which is 20 percent lower than the figure recorded from June 12 to 18.

Last Sunday, the health department recorded 325 patients who sought admission to hospitals due to severe and critical COVID-19. The number was 10.7 percent of the total COVID-19 admissions in the country.

Out of the 1,564 ICU beds intended for COVID-19 patients, 204 (13 percent) were occupied while 17.7 percent or 2,274 of 12,855 non-ICU COVID-19 beds were being used.

The DOH also reported that as of March 19, more than 78 million individuals or 100.44 percent of the target population have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The figure included 5,371 individuals vaccinated from March 13 to 19.

Furthermore, more than 23 million individuals have received their booster shots, including 10,177 individuals boosted in the same week.

The DOH likewise said that 7.1 million senior citizens or 82.16 percent of the target A2 population were able to receive their primary vaccine series.

The health department has advised the public to continuously observe minimum public health standards.

The DOH said the elderly, as well as those with comorbidities and the immune compromised are highly encouraged to still wear face masks.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday announced it had granted the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine a certificate of product registration (CPR).

“The FDA is pleased to announce the approval of the application and grant of CPR for Tozinameran + Famtozinameran (15 mcg/15 mcg)/0.3 mL Dispersion for Injection with a brand name, Comirnaty Original/Omicron B.A.4-5,” the agency said in a statement.

“The FDA has granted the CPR with five years validity after a comprehensive evaluation process, extensive clinical trials and thorough assessment of all available scientific data and information provided by the vaccine manufacturer and comprehensive evaluation process,” it added.

Last Feb. 21, Pfizer submitted a CPR application under monitored release for their COVID-19 vaccine to FDA, whose director general Dr. Samuel Zacate has urged pharmaceutical companies to apply and complete requirements for other SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.