MANILA, Philippines — Local health authorities on Thursday reported 7,217 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 1,247,899. The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure further extending the validity of Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 to give the government more time to implement measures and mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Public health advocates called on the Philippines to support the proposal to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. The COVAX vaccine program has secured another USD 2.4 billion from donors but underlined it was still struggling to get enough doses to help poorer countries fight coronavirus.

Source: Philippine Star June 03, 2021 03:11 UTC