The Department of Health on Monday, December 20, reported the country’s third case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which is believed to be driving the fresh surge in infections in South Africa and some European countries.

At a press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the third case was a 36-year-old male returning overseas Filipino worker. He arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport from Qatar on November 28. He was aboard Qatar Airways, with flight number QR 924. He had a travel history in Egypt.

His sample was tested on December 4 and the result was released on December 5. Upon testing positive, he was transferred to an isolation facility and stayed there until December 16 to finish his isolation period. He traveled on December 17 to his hometown in Cavite, where he is completing home isolation.

The Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine drive tested the competence of nearly every office in government, with life-and-death consequences for millions of Filipinos. 

It’s state today? From administering the country’s very first dose on March 1, a massive government and private sector-led campaign has seen over 100 million doses administered, as of mid-December. The figure is a feat, but not nearly enough yet to shepherd the country out of crisis. 

Read the full story here for the eight takeaways from a year of the Philippines’ vaccine rollout. 

The Philippines now has 2,837,577 confirmed COVID-19 cases after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 203 new cases on Sunday, December 19.

However, the DOH noted that four testing laboratories were non-operational on Friday, December 17, while 41 labs were not able to submit data due to Typhoon Odette (Rai).

The DOH also announced 64 new deaths, bringing the death toll to 50,739. Of these reported deaths, 2 occurred in December, 18 in November, 29 in October, 10 in September, 4 in August, and 1 in April.

Recoveries were up by 395, raising total recoveries to 2,777,109.

Of the total cases, 9,729 or 0.3% are active.

According to Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, the Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring the possible wastage of COVID-19 vaccine in Calabarzon and areas of the country affected by Typhoon Odette (Rai). Odette first made landfall in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte on Thursday, December 16.

Cabotaje said at a Laging Handa briefing on Saturday that there was a vehicular accident in Calabarzon involving slippery roads and a vehicle that was transporting Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. The DOH is still verifying the report.

DOH is also waiting for more reports of vaccine wastage due to Typhoon Odette from other regions.

Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas have not submitted reports yet because communication channels are down.

Cabotaje said, “We may have some vaccines that have been compromised because of power outages. While we have been prepared, baka sa katagalan, tapos ‘yung problema ng fuel, etc. [may have caused wastage].” (While we have been prepared, the amount of time, problems with fuel, etc. [may have caused wastage].)

There may be possible vaccine wastage in Western Visayas as well, but the region has not submitted a complete report and is still assessing damage. The DOH does not have a report from Bangsamoro Autonomous Regionin Muslim Mindanao(BARMM) yet.

Vaccines like Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik, which are stored in freezers, should be good for two to three days as long as the freezers are not opened, said Cabotaje. Extra ice should be added to the storage facilities of vaccines that require 2°C to 8°C temperatures in order to maintain that temperature.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, December 15, reported the country’s first cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which is believed to be driving the fresh surge in infections in South Africa and some European countries.

In a statement, the DOH said that the Philippine Genome Center detected two imported cases of the Omicron from the 48 samples sequenced on Tuesday, December 14.

“The two Omicron variant cases are incoming travelers and are currently isolated in a facility managed by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ),” the DOH said.

Read more here.