“Definitely this vaccine will be of great help to the Philippines. This will add more protection for our community,” DOH spokesperson Dr. Lyndon Lee-Suy told GMA News Online on Tuesday.
He added that once the vaccine is available, the DOH will create several models to determine which areas in the country need to be addressed first.
According to a report on GMA’s “Balitanghali,” a French company is developing the dengue vaccine.
The report also said that a pharmaceutical company that did research on the vaccine pegged the number of people hospitalized due to dengue every year at 500,000.
At least 60,000 dengue cases nationwide have been reported since January.
During the midyear, the following areas have been determined to have the most dengue cases:
– Central Visayas (6,023 cases, up 51 percent)
– Calabarzon (4,742, down 17 percent)
– Davao Region (4,364, up 30 percent)
– Western Visayas (4,444, up 102 percent)
– SOCCKSARGEN (3,963, up 126 percent) — Andrei Medina/BM, GMA News
