Mayor Isko Moreno discusses with Vide Mayor Honey Lacuna and Doc Willie Ong the procurement of a new drug that would address COVID-19 cases in Manila.
Photo by JERRY S. TAN
Manila purchases new COVID drug
THE city of Manila bought 40,000 pieces of the new anti-viral drug Molnupiravir for mild and moderate cases of COVID-19, as the infection rate in Manila is steadily declining.
This was announced by Mayor Isko Moreno, who said the local government will continuously acquire medicines to address the coronavirus, on top of Remdesivir which is for moderate to severe cases and Tocilizumab, which is for severe to critical cases.
Moreno said Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and his runningmate, Doc Willlie Ong, suggested the procurement of Molnupiravir, based on their research about its efficacy.
“Ipinagpapasalamat ko sa Diyos, patuloy ang pagbaba ng impeksyon sa Maynila. Medyo nama-manage na, pero may panganib pa rin. We will continue to acquire the needed medicines and strengthen our capability to treat,” Moreno said.
Citing a report from Lacuna, who, along with Manila Health Department chief Dr. Arnold Pangan, is in charge of the city’s mass vaccination program, there were only 59 new cases reported as of October 24, while the total number of confirmed cases is 586.
Lacuna also reported that for the past two months, COVID cases in Manila were 1,000 or less.
Moreno tasked Lacuna to spearhead the city’s mass vaccination program which, during the initial stages, utilized 18 schools and four shopping malls as inoculation hubs.
At the height of the mass vaccination, Moreno said that the vaccination hubs were open 14 hours a day, including weekends and holidays.
“Lagpas na lagpas na tayo sa minimum requirement na pinagawa sa atin ng national government and we will not stop. We will continue kahit sino me gusto, babakunahan natin hangga’tmeron tayong bakuna,” Moreno said.
As of this writing, the total number of vaccines administered in Manila has reached 2.63 million with over 1.3 million individuals vaccinated and more than 1.2 million already fully vaccinated.
Moreno said that based on Commission on Elections (Comelec) figures, the target population of 18 years old and older is 1.06 million while as per Department of Health, it is 1,451,487.
