DOH to ask for COVID-19 state of calamity extension if CDC law fails to pass this year

Shoppers fill the streets of Divisoria, Manila on December 8, 2022.

The STAR / Edd Gumban

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health said Friday it will ask President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to extend the state of calamity due to the COVID-19 if Congress fails to pass by year-end a law that will ensure that the government’s pandemic response will continue.

The state of calamity due to COVID-19 is set to expire at the end of the year, which the DOH said would end vaccination efforts and price regulations on pandemic response items unless Congress passes the law creating Philippine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We hope that the CDC law is passed and enacted. Because the CDC law states the conditions needed for our COVID-19 response to continue,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire told a news briefing.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/12/09/2229718/doh-ask-covid-19-state-calamity-extension-if-cdc-law-fails-pass-year