News Roundup 22 June 2021
Jun 22, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 3,666 new COVID-19 cases, 12 labs without data | PHILSTAR.COM – Coronavirus cases in the Philippines rose to 1,367,894 after the Department of Health logged Tuesday 3,666 new infections. Active cases decreased by 3,151 from Monday’s 55,847. The Department of Health said 12 laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 52,696 or 3.9% of the total
- Recoveries: 6,810, bringing total to 1,291,389
- Deaths: 60, raising death toll to 23,809
Robredo open to establishing ‘vaccine express’ in other Metro Manila cities | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo has received requests from other Metro Manila city governments to set up vaccine express sites in their localities, she disclosed Tuesday afternoon. Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the launch of the Vaccine Express site in Manila City, Robredo said that she was open to partnering so long as supplies were provided. The project, which aims to make vaccination accessible for economic frontliners who belong to the A4 priority group, inoculate tricycle, pedicab, and delivery riders for its initial run on Tuesday. “For us, we’re open to whichever local government unit is willing to partner with us,” the vice president said in Filipino. “Actually, many are already requesting, but our problem is really supplies.” Vaccine supplies at the site were shouldered by the Manila City local government, she said, while her office handled the staff and the buses. She did not disclose which local chief executives reached out to her office. “Our biggest problem is that in our office, we didn’t have access to supply. So for us, we are really dependent on which LGUs are willing to partner with us. So when we offered it, the City of Manila immediately said, ‘yes, we want it,'” she said. This comes after all Metro Manila mayors convened for an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss the detected cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Iloilo City mayor to DOH: Explain ‘discrepancy’ in COVID-19 vaccine allocation | INQUIRER.NET – Amid continued calls for more vaccine allocations, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has demanded an explanation from the Department of Health (DOH) about an alleged discrepancy in the volume of vaccines allocated to the city. In a letter to DOH Western Visayas director Emilia Monicimpo dated June 22, Treñas said the number of doses received by the city health office was less than the volume reported by the health agency. “We have only received 66,544 doses of vaccines but DOH reported that they sent 84,224 doses. The lacking 17,680 (doses are) very important in protecting more lives. I am asking DOH Region 6 for an explanation (on) where these missing doses went. We are hoping that this issue will be resolved immediately as time is very important,” the mayor said in a statement. He said the vaccines received by the city government “are all allocated for.” In a virtual briefing on June 21, the DOH reported that the city government was allocated 84,224 doses consisting of 62,804 doses of Sinovac vaccine and 21,420 AstraZeneca vaccines. A total of 535,280 doses have been distributed in Western Visayas as of June 20. “I think it is only proper that we demand what is actually afforded us. We cannot shortchange the Ilonggos who have been waiting to be vaccinated,” Treñas said in his letter. Spokespersons of the DOH in Western Visayas did not reply to requests from the INQUIRER for comment.
Lawyers’ group hits Duterte’s threat to jail those who refuse vaccinations | Manila Bulletin – An organization of lawyers on Tuesday, June 22, criticized President Duterte for threatening to jail those who refuse to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). “It is clearly infirm and without valid constitutional or legal basis,” said the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) through its President Edre U. Olalia. Olalia said “there is no law that specifically empowers the President to order such arrests for said reasons even in this health emergency.” He said that the NUPL “highly encourages and strongly supports mass vaccination.” But, he said, “no one should be arrested or penalized and even forcibly subjected to an involuntary act contrary to her/his preference and option, regardless whether such refusal or hesitancy is valid, unreasonable or even misinformed.” “The autonomy of one’s anatomy in this specific situation must be respected and no ruler can validly impose or force it,” he stressed.
St, John Nepomucene Parish Church of San Juan Batangas
Photo Source: By Ramon FVelasquez – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
