Health / Disease control of communicable disease

The proposed loan to the Republic of the Philippines for the Second Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 under the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (HEAL 2). Under the rapid response component (RRC) of the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX), will provide the Government of the Philippines with timely financing for safe and effective vaccine procurement and logistics, based on an agreed list of eligible expenditures. It will supplement the initial support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the government's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response under the Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 (HEAL) project. HEAL 2 is aligned with three operational priorities of ADB's Strategy 2030: (i) addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities; (ii) accelerating progress in gender equality; and (iii) fostering regional cooperation and integration.

The Philippines has met all APVAX access criteria by (i) demonstrating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; (ii) completing a needs assessment and a vaccination allocation and prioritization plan, including an incremental medical waste management plan and procurement arrangements acceptable to ADB, with ADB's receipt of a Governor's letter confirming its commitment to implement the plan and ensure compliance with the APVAX vaccine eligibility criteria; and (iii) establishing an effective development partner coordination mechanism with a clear role for ADB

Status of the pandemic in the Philippines. The Philippines recorded its first case of COVID-19 on 30 January 2020, and the first case of local transmission on 7 March 2020. Given the threat of COVID-19 to national security, a State of Public Health Emergency was declared on 8 March 2020 through Proclamation No. 922, and the National Capital Region was placed under general community quarantine on 15 March 2020. This was escalated to an enhanced community quarantine for the whole of Luzon on 16 March 2020 to mitigate the spread of the virus. On 16 May 2020, the government started to relax the quarantines and the associated nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) because of the observed stabilization of the number of new cases. However, new cases started to rapidly emerge again by July 2020.

The rapid surge prompted a re-imposition of stricter quarantine measures and NPIs by August 2020. As a result, the weekly increases in new COVID-19 cases were reduced from a peak of 23,019 during 6-12 August 2020 to 9,203 during 17-23 December 2020. The daily positivity rate the share of individuals tested and confirmed positive in the total number of individuals tested dropped from 12.7% on 1 August 2020 to 6.5% on 29 December 2020. Although the NPIs are driving down the number of cases, the risk of rapid spikes in new cases, similar to those in July 2020, remains. The new coronavirus variants, which have been observed to be more contagious, add to this risk. The introduction of COVID-19 vaccination is highly critical to lowering the number of new cases and bringing an end to the pandemic.

Health system performance in addressing public health outbreaks improved;

Protection of the public and reduction of COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality fostered; and

Economic growth and citizens' confidence restored

Priority populations vaccinated against COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccines efficiently and effectively delivered.