DoH seeks Covid-19 response integration
This means Covid-19 vaccination will be part of the primary healthcare services of the Health department by next year to make it more accessible to the public.
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This means Covid-19 vaccination will be part of the primary healthcare services of the Health department by next year to make it more accessible to the public.
Beginning next year, all Covid-19-related preventive measures and responses will be integrated into the programs of the Department of Health, its officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire announced Friday.
"Starting January next year, Covid-19 will be integrated with our other public health programs. It's not going to be a special program anymore," Vergeire said in a media briefing.
It means Covid-19 vaccination will be part of the primary healthcare services of the Health department by next year to make it more accessible to the public.
"It's not going to be specific only for Covid-19 but we would want our healthcare units to be implementing this integration to change the mindset of the public towards Covid-19," she added.
Vergeire also said that the move will also make the department more efficient, citing that all resources for healthcare workers are designated for the dreaded respiratory disease.
"We need to have a change of mindset in the implementation of health services that it is not only Covid-19 but also non-Covid-19 illnesses that we need to address," Vergeire said.
The announcement came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tasked the Health department to also prioritize the campaign against other diseases aside from Covid-19 as the President specifically stressed that the DoH should prioritize the fight against human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis infections and flu.
Meanwhile, Vergeire said a total of 132,770 individuals were inoculated with first booster during the three-day nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive from 5 to 7 December.
Likewise, a total of 33,239 children aged 5-11 years old received their first booster shots, pushing the vaccination rate among the aged group to nearly 50 percent.
Asked whether the government will also authorize Covid-19 shots that target both the original coronavirus and Omicron sub-variants for use in children as young as 6 months of age, Vergeire said "yes," but stressed that it should be backed by evidence.
"Well, as long as there's evidence already that can support the use of these Covid-19 vaccines to the younger age group like less than 5 years old, we are ready," Vergeire said.
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