President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday lauded the joint efforts of the government agencies, local government units, and the private sector to make the vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 years old “non-traumatic.”

In his prerecorded Talk to the People, Duterte also thanked the medical professionals and other healthcare workers who volunteered in ramping up the country’s vaccination program, even in the far-flung communities.

“I send my gratitude for making it possible. Each and every one of you, maraming salamat sa inyo at minsan natuturuan ninyo ang gobyerno ninyo (thank you because sometimes you are teaching the government),” he said.

Duterte said all Covid-19 vaccines used in the Philippines underwent a thorough study to ensure quality, safety, and efficacy.

He also urged the eligible fully vaccinated Filipinos to get additional protection against the dreaded Covid-19 and its variants, by availing of the booster shots.

To date, a total of 62,505,204 Filipinos are now fully vaccinated, representing 69 percent of the government’s targeted 90 million Filipinos until June this year.

PH remains low-risk

In his report to the President, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the Philippines has already overcome the “hump” of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19.

He said the country is now at low-risk case classification, except for Cordillera Administrative Region which remains to be on “moderate risk case” status.

Duque said except for Davao Region, the healthcare utilization rates of the regions are also at low risk.

On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,427 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest single-day infections this year.

The latest Covid-19 bulletin indicated 58,657 active cases while total recoveries rose to 3,539,106 after 3,269 new recovered cases were recorded.

Duque also encouraged all eligible individuals to have their booster shots “to get additional protection to prevent severe disease and hospitalization.” (PNA)