Metro Manila— The government aims to vaccinate 80% of the vulnerable population against COVID-19 before the country eases to Alert Level 1.
In a televised briefing Monday night, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the recommendation is from presidential adviser for COVID-19 response Vince Dizon.
“Bago ma-de-escalate to Alert Level 1, kinakailangang 80% [ang vaccination rate] ng atingA2 and A3… At kung hindi po sila makarating sa panukatan na ‘yan ay hindi tayo puwedeng ibaba,” he said.
[Translation: Before we de-escalate the country to Alert Level 1, the vaccination rate of the A2 and A3 groups should be 80%. If they will not reach this, then we cannot de-escalate.]
The vaccination rate is also a good metric to use when deciding which areas are ready to shift to Alert Level 1, he added.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said health authorities want to focus on immunizing the remaining three million senior citizens and people with comorbidities.
Duque reported that from Feb. 15 to 21, the country’s average number of daily reported cases was 1,972, down 44% compared to the previous week. Healthcare utilization rate was classified as low risk.
Currently, the National Capital Region and several other areas are under Alert Level 2 until the end of February.
Metro Manila mayors will meet on Tuesday and they are expected to come up with a recommendation on the capital region’s next alert level status. They already expressed readiness to de-escalate the region to the lowest classification to be able to open more industries.
