RED CROSS holds pilot saliva Covid-19 testing

GORDON: Saliva testing method can be a game-changer in fight versus Covid-19

 January 12, 2021

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Tuesday launched its saliva RT-PCR pilot testing for Covid-19 in compliance with the requirements of the Department of Health (DOH).PRC chairman Senator Richard Gordon 

GOVERNMENT TARGET: Vaccinate 200,000 Pinoys every day

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez said 25,000 vaccinators are being trained to achieve the government’s goal of vaccinating 200,000 Filipinos every day once the nationwide vaccination program starts.

We’re going to have a record-breaking daily vaccination rollout, Galvez said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.

For this year alone, the government is set to procure 148 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Galvez earlier said that the government’s goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of Filipinos in three to five years.

The Philippines has already signed deals for vaccines developed by China’s Sinovac, the Serum Institute of India and British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

DOH DENIES COVID-19 VARIANT ALREADY IN THE COUNTRY

The Department of Health and the Philippine Genome Center have not detected the UK variant, or any new variant of SARS-COV-2 in the country.

The DOH issued the statement late Monday in response to social media posts that the new coronavirus variant was detected in Metro Manila.

Declaring the social media reports as fake news, DOH urged the public to refrain from sharing unverified information.

The health agency called on the public to avoid disseminating unverified information that may cause panic and confusion and also strict compliance to minimum and mandated health protocols set by the government.

“Whether or not a new variant is detected, the DOH reiterates that strict adherence to minimum public health standards is the best defense against COVID-19 and strongly urges the public to continue practicing across all settings to lower the rate of infection and reduce the risk of viral mutation,” the DOH said.

PH signs deal to secure 30M doses of Covovax

TERM SHEET. National Task Force on Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar, Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., and Faberco Life Sciences, Inc. founder Kishore Hemlani show the term sheet for 30 million doses of the Covovax vaccine on Saturday (Jan. 9, 2021). Covovax is expected to be approved for use by international regulators. (Contributed photo)

A significant milestone in relations between India and the Philippines

 January 10, 2021

The Philippine government, represented by vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Serum Institute of India (SII), and Faberco Life Sciences, Inc. signed a term sheet on Saturday to secure 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax that will be available starting third quarter of… Read More