Philippines ranked lowest in COVID-19 recovery index

The Philippines ranked lowest out of 121 countries in Nikkei Asia's COVID-19 Recovery Index for September, assessing infection management, vaccine rollouts, and social mobility.

The country recorded a score of 30.5, placing it in the 121st position, a drop from its previous rankings of 108th in July and 106th in August.

As of September 30, only 30% of the Philippine population of 110 million had been fully vaccinated, contributing to its low ranking.

Despite a decrease in daily COVID-19 cases, the National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. defended the country's pandemic response.

Galvez stated that the Nikkei index data only covered September, a period when the Philippines was battling the Delta variant while cases in other countries were declining.

He also highlighted that the Philippines has improved its testing capacity and tested more individuals than Indonesia and Myanmar in September, according to Our World in Data.