MANILA - The Philippines has fully vaccinated 75 percent of its target population as new COVID-19 cases continue to decline, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Government has administered primary doses to 67.9 million individuals or 75 percent of its initial target of 90 million before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte's term, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Of those fully vaccinated, 6.7 million are elderly, 8.9 million are immunocompromised persons, 2 million are children ages 5 to 11, 9.2 million are teens, and the rest are the general population, the DOH data showed.

Some 13 million fully inoculated individuals have received their booster shots, while 38.7 million more are eligible. Some 7,430 immunocompromised persons have received a second booster, Vergeire said.

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Video courtesy of the Department of Health

The number of coronavirus cases has also reached lower level compared to the period before the omicron variant entered the country, Vergeire added.

"Overall, the national positivity rate is still at a slow decline at 1.2 percent from 1.3 percent from last week. Ito na rin po ang pinakamababa nating nairecord sa loob ng isang linggo simula nung 2021," she told reporters.

(This is also the lowest we recorded ina week since 2021.)

"Mas mababa ito ng 23 percent kumpara nung pinakamababang naitala bago tayo magkaroon ng omicron situation."

(It is lower by 23 percent than the period before the omicron situation.)

The DOH is monitoring 5 cities in Metro Manila (Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, and Makati) after these registered positive growth over the last 2 weeks and the previous week, Vergeire said.

This growth remains insignificant, she added.

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"Wala pong nagtatranslate sa average daily attack rate (ADAR) na mataas, o pagpuno ng hospital. Healthcare utilization is still less than 20 percent," she said.

(It did not translate to a higher average daily attack rate or full capacity of hospitals.)

"Transmission is still there so we expect na magkakaroon at magkakaroon pa rin ng mga kaso (there will still be new cases). Di po tayo bababa sa 0 cases talaga (Our new cases won't reach 0). We are here to live with the virus."