News Roundup 28 December 2020
Dec 28, 2020 • 3 min Read
Philippines logs 766 new COVID-19 cases as total hits 470,650 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines reported 766 new coronavirus infections Monday, the lowest daily rise since July 14, pushing the country’s caseload to 470,650. The Department of Health said the decline in additional cases during the holiday season is expected due to the closure of many private laboratories and the decrease in the number of patients served by those that remained open. The DOH noted that out of the 175 open laboratories on December 26, there were 27 that reported seeing zero patients, while many others were observed to have decreased census. Monday’s figure also did not include results from six testing laboratories which failed to submit their reports on time. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 survivors rose to 438,780 after 104 more patients recovered from COVID-19. The agency registered the “mass recovery” of 7,635 patients Sunday. The DOH also logged 15 new fatalities due to the respiratory disease, raising the death toll to 9,124. Excluding recoveries and deaths, the number of active cases stands at 22,746.
PNP distances from ‘VIP vaccines’ fiasco while military denies vaccine program | PHILSTAR.COM – Ranking execs within the national police Monday distanced from the fiasco involving Cabinet and military officials who acquired and took coronavirus vaccines before they were approved by health authorities who were supposed to be vaccinated first. “Sa PNP, wala pa akong alam. Of course I will be happy na maconsider na first mabakunahan, it helps us kung kami maconsider,” Police Gen. Debold Sinas, the chief of the Philippine National Police, said at a press conference held in San Fernando, Pampanga on Monday morning. This comes after no less than President Rodrigo Duterte first claimed at a public address over the weekend that “many” Filipinos including some members of the military, had already received the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. Interior Secretary Eduardo Año later admitted that members of the Presidential Security Group had indeed been vaccinated. The Presidential Security Group, however, is composed of personnel from both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police as well. Speaking at the Laging Handa public briefing on Monday, Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, said that there were no official AFP vaccination programs but stopped short of confirming reports, saying the military would have to confirm them first.
FDA: No authorized anti-COVID drug yet; to crack down on illegal vaccines | INQUIRER.NET – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday vowed that it will go after distributors of “illegal and unregistered” COVID-19 vaccines as the agency clarified that it has not authorized any drug yet. This, after President Rodrigo Duterte in his address on Saturday, claimed that many people in the Philippines have already received the COVID-19 vaccine of China’s Sinopharm, even as regulators have yet to approve any vaccine for use. The President also bared that some members of the military also received the vaccine. FDA director-general Eric Domingo, in an interview with CNN Philippines’ “The Source,” said that it was a “personal choice” if people chose to be inoculated with an unregistered vaccine. “There’s nothing we can do about it, it’s a personal choice. But it is illegal to import an unregistered drug, to distribute it, and for a doctor or a medical practitioner or any health personnel to administer unlicensed drugs in the country,” he said.
Gordon calls out Duterte on threat to scrap VFA if the US will not give COVID-19 vaccine | Manila Bulletin – Senator Richard J. Gordon on Monday disagreed with President Duterte threatening the US that he would abrogate the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) if the US cannot deliver coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines. ‘’National interest must be the only consideration for a Visiting Forces Agreement,’’ Gordon said. He said Duterte’s “No vaccine No VFA threat” upon the US is ‘’totally inappropriate, mercenary, and lessens the dignity of the Philippines.’’
