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JV Ejercito: Keep funding COVID-19 vax despite end of global health emergency

May 08, 2023

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said the national government should continue to allocate funding for vaccination against COVID-19 despite the World Health Organization’s recent announcement that the said disease is no longer a global health emergency.

While recent variants of COVID-19 have been observed to be mild, Ejercito, who principally sponsored the Universal Healthcare Law during his first term in the Senate, said the national government should sustain its vaccination program against the virus to achieve widespread protection and immunity.

“Di naman pwede na alisin totally yung budget for COVID response. I think doon sa mga di pa nakakapagbakuna or booster shots, kailangan pa rin natin iyan. I think that will help us a lot as protection against COVID,” he said.

The Department of Health (DOH) said 94.62 percent or around 73.8 million of the eligible population has already been vaccinated.

Moreover, the lawmaker from San Juan said there is no need for the national government to declare another public health emergency or implement community quarantines despite the rising COVID-19 positivity rate in the country.

“Kailangan pa rin nating mag-ingat. Alam naman natin yung basic protocols. But I don’t think there’s a need for a declaration of a public health emergency or community quarantine,” Ejercito said.

According to OCTA Research, the national COVID-19 positivity rate has now reached 17.2 percent.

The DOH said it already expected the national positivity rate to increase, given the ongoing decline in tests being conducted. 

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