Senator Christopher “Bong” Go (File photo)

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Thursday said the gains of Covid-19 vaccine rollout and other pandemic response measures must not be wasted as he appealed to the public not to be complacent.

Go, chair of the Senate committee on health, commended the Duterte administration for its accelerated Covid-19 vaccination rollout, saying the country will soon reach population protections if such gains are sustained and expanded further together with consistent enforcement of health protocols.

The country has so far obtained a total of 87.7 million doses, of which 50.1 million doses have been administered, particularly to 23.4 million Filipinos who are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Kinokomendahan ko ang gobyerno sa kanilang pagsisikap na mabakunahan ang lahat ng mga Pilipino para makamit na natin ang inaasam nating population protection leading to herd immunity. Bilisan pa natin ang rollout at siguraduhin natin na ni isang bakuna ay walang masasayang (I commend the government for its effort to vaccine all Filipinos to achieve population protection leading to heard immunity. Let’s hasten further the rollout and make sure that not a single vaccine will be wasted),” Go said.

He said additional 29.4 million doses are expected to arrive within the month of October.

In his Talk to the People on Oct. 11, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that 77 percent or 7.5 million of the target population in Metro Manila are now fully vaccinated.

Duterte expressed confidence that the daily rate of shots will ramp up in the coming months once the vaccine drive is open to the general population including minors aged 12 to 17.

The government aims to fully vaccinate at least 85 percent of the target population in Metro Manila and expand the rollout of vaccines in the critical areas of Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal by the end of October.

In addition to the ongoing vaccine drive, Go also lauded the successes of the public health measures after the OCTA Research reported a 29 percent drop in seven-day average of new cases, the country’s lowest since the first week of enhanced community quarantine on August 6 to 12.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health reported 7,181 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest since August 4.

To maintain the downward trend in daily cases, Go said the public must remain vigilant and avoid complacency, stressed the need to continue supporting the government’s minimum public health standards by wearing masks, washing one’s hands, and maintaining physical distancing.

“Kung patuloy na bababa ang bilang ng magkakasakit at tataas naman ang bilang ng bakunado, mas mabilis pa nating maibabangon ang ating ekonomiya at mas makakabalik na tayo sa normal na pamumuhay pagdating ng panahon (If new cases will continue to go down and more people will be inoculated, we can recover the economy faster and go back to normal life in the near future),” he said.