Philippines Tallies 1,574 New COVID-19 Cases

The number of COVID-19 infection in the Philippines rose to 441,399 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,574 new cases on Monday

MANILA (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Dec, 2020 ) :The number of COVID-19 infection in the Philippines rose to 441,399 after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,574 new cases on Monday.

The DOH said 80 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 408,702. The death toll climbed to 8,572 after 18 more patients died from the viral disease, according to the DOH.

The government has drawn a list of sectors to receive the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told a virtual press conference on Monday.

Nearly 25 million Filipinos are on the list of the priority sectors in the government's immunization program, Roque said.

On top of the list are the frontline health workers in public and private facilities such as hospitals and quarantine shelters, he said. "They need the vaccine so they can perform their jobs without hesitation," he said.

he other priority sectors include the indigent senior citizens due to their vulnerability and the poor and all the uniformed personnel such as soldiers and policemen, Roque added.

Roque said that regions and urbanized cities with a high number of community transmissions such as Metro Manila, Cebu City in the central Philippines, and Davao City in the southern Philippines are the geographical priorities.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said during a television interview on Monday that the vaccines will be rolled out towards the end of the first quarter next year.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday said that the three COVID-19 vaccine developers have passed the ethics review board of the Philippines, a requirement needed to conduct clinical trials in the country.Vergeire said Belgium's Janssen Pharmaceutical, Britain's AstraZeneca, and China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals got the approval of the board.

"We are just waiting for them to finish the evaluation," Vergeire told a separate online media briefing.

Vaccine manufacturers need approval from the ethics review board and the vaccine expert panel before they are allowed to conduct trials regulated by the food and Drug Administration.