Decreasing Covid-19 cases may be attributed to ‘very good’ vax rate – Herbosa

National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 special adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa on Friday, May 6, said the decreasing number of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines may be attributed to the country’s “very good” vaccination rate.

“Tuloy naman ang pagbaba [ng kaso sa bansa]. Ang tingin ko ay dahil ito sa ating very good vaccination rate (The number of cases in the country continues to decline. I think this is because of our very good vaccination rate),” said Herbosa in the Laging Handa public briefing.

As of May 5, the Department of Health’s (DOH) National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed that 68,380,971 persons have completed their primary Covid-19 vaccine dose. This is equivalent to about 76 percent of what the country is aiming to jab.

Meanwhile, DOH’s data likewise showed that at least 80 percent (65,839,651 Filipinos) have received their first vaccine dose.

However, the number of Filipinos boosted remained very low at 13,289,432. Despite this, Herbosa claimed the country’s Covid-19 vaccination rate is “very good.”

“Ito sa palagay ko ang rason kung bakit hindi tayo nakakakita ng mga muling pagtaas ng kaso sa ating bansa at kung meron man, ito ay sa mga lugar na below 50 percent ang vaccination rate (I think this is the reason why we do not see a spike in the country’s number of cases. If there are any, it is in areas where the vaccination rate is below 50 percent),” said Herbosa.

He said they are monitoring areas with low vaccination rates. These areas are in Visayas, Mindanao, as well as Luzon, particularly in MIMAROPA and Bicol.