THE Department of Health (DOH) warns the public against a surge of influenza-like diseases and respiratory ailments including COVID 19.
The DOH reported that it has monitored some 200,000 cases of the respiratory illnesses across the country which is more than double the usual 90,000 cases recorded during the season.
Undersecretary Eric Tayag, DOH chief information officer, said the spike came as health authorities were monitoring developments in China which is encountering significant increases in sicknesses akin to influenza and COVID.
“Usually, the records would show only 90,000 during the season, but these were not all influenza. Some of them were COVID,” Tayag said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.
Tayag admitted however, that the DOH has no inventory of the COVID vaccines and that at the moment, there are no plans by the government to procure the same.
“We have more COVID vaccines. We are just waiting for some good Samaritans to donate them, Tayag said.
The DOH revealed earlier that some 49.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been wasted including 26.2 million doses that were donated and 23.5 million doses purchased by the government.
The DOH also bared that they would not be appropriating any funds for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines next year.
Chinese health authorities have reportedly warned of an increase in respiratory diseases such as mycoplasma pneumonia, COVID-19, and influenza as winter approaches. With Agence France-Presse