The Department of Health (DOH) wants to extend a State of Calamity due to COVID-19 beyond December 31, 2022.

In a press conference Tuesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they have submitted a memo to the Office of the President before December 25.

"We already submitted our memo to the President requesting the extension of the State of Calamity," said Vergeire.

"We already had a meeting last December 23 with the Office of the Presidential Management staff together with concerned agencies to explain to all of them why we are seeking this extension," she added.

She said the DOH sought to extend the State of Calamity after a Center for Disease Control (CDC) bill was not approved by Congress.

"If the State of Calamity would not be extended, we will be losing the different response strategies that we are doing right now, first of which is the COVID-19 vaccination program," explained Vergeire.

Vergiere also said the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for bivalent vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer to used against the new strains of COVID-19.

She said negotiations to buy Omicron-specific vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna are ongoing.

It can be recalled that the State of Calamity was first declared by then President Rodrigo Duterte on March 16, 2020 after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. DMS