DOH inakusahan ng pagsisinungaling sa datos sa breakthrough COVID infections

MAYNILA—Naniniwala si dating Health Secretary at ngayo’y Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin na nagsisinungaling ang Department of Health sa pagbibigay ng datos sa breakthough infections ng COVID-19 sa bansa.

Sa plenary debates ng House of Representatives sa budget ng DOH nitong Martes, iginiit ni Garin na mas marami ang bilang ng breakthrough infections kung titingnan ang sitwasyon sa mga ospital kaysa sa datos na isinapubliko ng kagawaran.

“The data is still being collected by the DOH, so it is not complete. The summary that we have based on the available data that we have, there are a total of 242 cases that were reported as breakthrough infections, 87% of which are mild, and asymptomatic while 10% are hospitalized and 2% are dead,” tugon ni Quezon City 5th district Rep. Duke Frasco, ang nag-sponsor ng budget ng DOH nang hingin ni Garin ang datos ng DOH.

Sagot naman ni Garin: “I am telling you that is a big lie.” 

“(Only) 242 cases? Eh sa San Joaquin Hospital nga lang, they already have 60 cases. In our district hospital, we have probably 50 cases and we know for a fact that in PGH, the breakthrough infections will not be less than 50. So nakapaimposible naman po ng 242.”

• DOH: Delayed death reporting due to COVIDKaya downtime

Aniya, hindi naman niya sinasabi na hindi na epektibo ang mga bakuna kontra COVID-19 na nakukuha ng gobyerno pero dapat maging transparent ang DOH sa mga datos nito para makatugon ang mga lokal na opisyal sa sitwasyon ng infection sa kanilang mga lugar

“I do hope that the DOH will have it in their conscience to be transparent to our people. Kasi napakaimposible nga po ng 242. This is a war, and our decisions are based on the transparency that you are showing,” ani Garin.

“I am not saying that we failed. I am saying we need to recalibrate information because we owe it to our people to be transparent.”

Tugon naman ni Frasco, hindi pa hawak ng DOH ang kabuuang bilang ng breakthrough infections dahil kumakalap pa ito ng mga karagdagang datos.

Naniniwala naman si Garin na hindi na totoo ngayon ang konsepto ng “herd immunity” kung bibilangin ang mga nabakunahan ng COVID-19.

Ito ay dahil sa mas nakakahawang Delta variant na nakakalusot na sa proteksyon ng mga bakuna.

“There is no herd immunity to talk about at this point in time because of the waning immunity and the inadequate protection of the currently recommended primary series. This is not the fault of government and this is not the fault of the Department of Health. This is science that should be explained to our frontliners and decision-makers,” aniya.

• DOH probing drop in COVID-19 testing before confirming decrease in NCR cases

Iginiit ni Garin na dapat aminin na ng DOH na tila “back to zero” ang bansa pagdating sa herd immunity para makapagtakda ng mga tamang hakbang sa gitna ng pandemya.

“I think the answer is no. We are not back to zero with respect to herd immunity. The purpose of the vaccination program is to reduce the transmission of the coronavirus, and it is shown that if a person is vaccinated, they have less of the viral load, and that will help in terms of transmission,” depensa naman ni Frasco.

“But because of the new variants, especially with the Delta variant that is more transmissible, compared to previous variants, perhaps there is an increase in terms of threshold of herd immunity or the definition of herd immunity.”

Samantala, pinagsusumite naman ni Garin ang DOH ng lingguhang report hinggil sa breakthrough infections sa mga ospital sa bansa para matutukan aniya ang bilang na ito at makapag-adjust ng mga programa ang DOH.

Sinabihan rin ni Garin ang DOH na mag-realign ng ilang items sa kanilang budget para idagdag sa pondong inilaan para sa COVID-19 vaccination sa susunod na taon.

— Ulat ni Joyce Balancio, ABS-CBN News

KAUGNAY NA ULAT