News Roundup 22 February 2021
Feb 22, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 2,288 new COVID-19 cases, highest rise in over 3 months | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported 2,288 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, the biggest single day rise in more than three months, pushing to over 563,000 the total number of infections in the country. To date, 563,456 have had COVID-19 in the Philippines. Of these, 28,488 or 5.1% are active cases. Recoveries increased to 522,874 after 33 more patients recuperated from respiratory illness. Meanwhile, six more COVID-19-related fatalities were recorded, bringing to 12,094 the death toll. The country’s case fatality rate currently stands at 2.15%.
Dengvaxia mess, mishandling of contracts delayed COVID-19 jabs — Drilon | PHILSTAR.COM – A member of the Senate minority bloc on Monday pointed to the 2018 Dengvaxia controversy and the national government’s mishandling of contract negotiations as among the reasons behind the delays in the rollout of the administration’s national coronavirus vaccination program. This comes days after vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, Jr disclosed at a press briefing that the government had signed Indemnification Agreements with drugmakers Pfizer and AstraZeneca under the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility. Once signed, an indemnification agreement “holds a business or company harmless” in case of unexpected adverse events. Speaking in an interview aired over ANC, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon lamented the Public Attorney’s Office’s handling of the controversy, saying also that it added a burden on health workers who were made defendants in cases filed across the country. “To me, the indemnification requirement is borne out by the events that transpired in the Dengvaxia controversy. Why, suddenly, did the manufacturers require an indemnity clause? Because of their experience on the way the Dengvaxia controversy was handled against Sanofi,” the senator said. “It should be looked at in the context of the way PAO Chief Persida Acosta handled the Dengvaxia controversy,” he added. Galvez himself at the same press briefing last week admitted that drugmakers were likely concerned with the country’s previous experiences with the Dengvaxia vaccine. A 2018 study of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine noted that the country’s “highly politicized response” to the reported risks posed by Dengvaxia has eroded overall public trust in immunization.
OVP starts packing hygiene kits for Auring-hit communities | INQUIRER.NET – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) has started packing hygiene kits that would be distributed to communities affected by Tropical Storm Auring. In a post on Vice President Leni Robredo’s official Facebook page on Monday, several volunteers were seen helping in sorting and packing the hygiene kits at the OVP building in New Manila, Quezon City. Robredo said that several of the hygiene packs also came from donations — just like what happened during the height of typhoons last November 2020. “Sinimulan ng OVP ang linggong ito sa paghahanda ng hygiene kits para sa mga komunidad na nasalanta ng Bagyong #AuringPH,” Robredo said. (OVP has started this week by preparing hygiene kits for the communities affected by Tropical Storm Auring.) “Maraming salamat sa ating mga donors at sa lahat ng ating mga kapwa Pilipino na patuloy na nagpapaabot ng kanilang tulong. Salamat po sa inyong pakikiisa!” she added. (Thank you very much for our donors and our fellow Filipinos who continue to reach out to provide assistance. Thank you for your support!) This is not the first time Robredo’s office — which has looked like every bit of a storage room nowadays — participated in relief efforts. During a series of successive storms late October to November which included Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses, OVP also sent aid to people affected in Bicol Region, Southern Luzon, Metro Manila, and Cagayan de Oro. Robredo’s office also launched several relief operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and when the Taal Volcano erupted last January 2020.
VCO clinical trial ongoing at PGH – DOST-PCHRD | Manila Bulletin – There is an ongoing Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) trial among coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients classified as moderate cases at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), an official of the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) announced Monday, Feb. 22. DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime C. Montoya said VCO trials were being conducted to ensure the effectiveness of VCO as a potential supplement that could prevent the worsening of condition in patients afflicted with the disease. “Patuloy pa po [ang VCO trials], mayroon pa pong ongoing ngayon na trial sa PGH para tingnan po ang mga COVID19 [patients] na na-ospital. Ito po ‘yung moderate case ng COVID at patuloy pa po ang pagtingin din sa asymptomatic cases na ginagawa po ngayon sa Valenzuela [City] ([The VCO trials] continue, there is ongoing trial at PGH to assess the COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized. These are moderate case of COVID and we continue the trials among the asymptomatic cases that are being conducted in Valenzuela [City},” he said during the “Laging Handa” briefing. “ito ay patuloy nating mamanmanan, imo-monitor at base sa resulta nito, magdededisyon po tayo kung ito ay i-aapply sa FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (We will continue to monitor this and based on its results, we will decide if this will be applied with the FDA),” he said.
