MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the Vaccine Expert Panel, said that the Philippines is now “better off” ready to exit the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“I think we are in that process now. Our mindset is hopefully we can be exiting with this pandemic, we can exit with this pandemic,” Solante said at the Laging Handa press briefing.

According to Solante, the country’s healthcare systems are prepared to handle severe Covid-19 symptoms, and the country’s ability to deal with the virus has improved as the number of active Covid-19 cases has decreased

“We know how to deal with it [virus] and I think isa sa mga punto natin dito (one of our points here) is we also have available antiviral agents that are appropriate against this infection, we have oral antiviral, we have IV [Intravenous] antivirals,” he added.

“So, for me, we are better off prepared now compared to two years ago or one year ago,” he added.

The administration has been debating the country’s exit strategy from the Covid-19 pandemic and is now working on a strategic roadmap to the “new normal.”

“Ang important (What important) now is delivering the important message sa lahat na ang bakuna ay importante at mahalaga (to all that vaccine is important and essential) when we want to control the pandemic and if we want to move to a new normal,” Solante stated. 

The public should be informed of the vaccine’s benefits on a regular basis, especially now that the highly transmissible Omicron Covid-19 version is present in the country.

“If you will be left out without the vaccine among the majority who has the vaccine or already vaccinated, then you will be the target of this Omicron variant to get the infection and continue to be a risk, puwede kang maging (you could be at) risk to get the severe infection,” Solante said.

The Department of Health reported 1,019 active Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the fewest this year, bringing the overall number of confirmed cases to 3,654,284 across the country, with 56,668 active cases, 3,541,840 recoveries, and 55,776 deaths. – WhatALife!

Source: (pna.gov.ph)

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