PH new COVID-19 cases breached 28K, daily average at 3%
The Philippines posted 28,0008 new COVID-19 infections from August 8 to 14, with its daily average rising by three per cent to 4,0001 cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
In its weekly bulletin, the DOH revealed that 719 of 2,571 intensive care unit (ICU) beds had been used across the country as of August 14. Meanwhile, 6,781 of 21,968 non-ICU beds were occupied by COVID patients.
As for vaccines, the government said they had already vaccinated 72.1 million people, 17 million of whom have already received booster shots.
However, Sen. Risa Hontiveros raised the alarm about the vaccines being wasted in the country. She added that about P10 billion (US$178 million) of COVID-19 vaccines — 8.4% of the total — are being wasted.
Hontiveros stated, “At this rate, by October, the Philippines will have breached the [10%] wastage threshold set by the World Health Organization,”
DOH Officer-In-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, for her part, explained that the vaccines either expired, were opened but not used, or got spilled
She added that a global initiative for equal access to coronavirus vaccines had agreed to replace all expired vaccines as long as these don’t expire again.
