MANILA - The Philippines keeping coronavirus cases low and not recording a surge for months is a "major accomplishment" and a result of the government's continuous vaccination activities nationwide, said Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19 chief implementer.

Latest data as of June 8 from the National Vaccination Operations Center (NVOC) showed that the Philippines has fully vaccinated 71,090,091 Filipinos with primary Covid-19 doses. About 14,355,799 eligible individuals received a third dose or first booster shot.

"There has been no surge in infections recorded recently because of the continuous vaccination being carried out by local government units nationwide," Galvez said in a recent interview. "This is a major accomplishment considering that there have been a lot of superspreader events in the past months, which include the national elections, Ramadan, Holy Week, the resumption of on-site work reporting, and the further easing of restrictions."

The Philippines only recorded 2,437 active Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday.

"These positive developments will help more Filipinos bounce back from the health crisis, and enable the next administration to sustain and build on these gains," Galvez said.

The government has earlier targeted fully vaccinating at least 70 million Filipinos to achieve the country's population protection against Covid-19, as approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Ang WHO po ay ay talagang tuwang-tuwa din dahil (The WHO is also happy because) there are only few countries who have accomplished 'yung 70 million fully-vaccinated people. And isa po ang Pilipinas na sinasabi nilang napakaganda ng pag-arangkada sa vaccination (And they said the Philippines is one of the countries that have a good vaccination drive)," Galvez said.

Galvez said the current Covid-19 situation in the country will help more Filipinos to bounce back into normalcy.

"We were able to save more lives without compromising our economy. We are now on the road towards full recovery," he added. "We are confident that the incoming administration will build upon these developments, sustain the government's vaccination efforts, and effectively lead the nation to the new normal." (PNA)