THE Department of Health (DOH) said the country’s hospitalization rate due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) might increase by the end of August, or at the early days of September.DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that based on their projections, Covid-19 cases in the country may increase to 1,800 to 11,000 in August if the booster uptake remains low.Experts earlier repeatedly explained that Covid-19 booster doses increase the wall of immunity against the virus as the protection provided by the primary series wanes overtime.Vergeire also attributed the increase in Covid-19 cases to the reduction of compliance to minimum public health standards by about 25 percent, also with consideration to the increased mobilization of the public amid the prevailing alert level in the country.In June, Vergeire said the public’s compliance to the minimum public health protocols, particularly the wearing of face masks and the maintenance of physical distancing, decreased by about 21 percent.From July 4 to July 10, the DOH recorded 10,271 new Covid-19 cases, 39 percent higher than the cases reported during the week prior, June 27 to July 3.As of July 11, more than 71 million individuals were fully vaccinated.More than 9.6 million adolescents and 3.7 million children aged five to 11 have also received Covid-19 immunization.The DOH said only over 15.3 million individuals received their first booster doses, while 954,000 eligible individuals received their second booster dose.But Vergeire said they do not see yet the need to come up with a law making booster doses mandatory.“Nakita naman natin na nagging effective ‘yung mga strategies in the past even without mandating itong pagbabakuna sa populasyon,” she said.“Sa ngayon, hindi po natin nakikita na kailangan natin yan kasi in the past, we were able to improve and increase our vaccination efforts by implementing different nudges na ginagawa natin unang una na ‘yung demand generation activities kung saan nakakapagbigay tayo ng mga adequate info to everybody na na-aadress natin ‘yung mga hesitancies ng mga tao. Nae-expand natin ang ating mga vaccination sites at ‘yung atin po incentives and disincentive schemes in the past,” she said.Vergeire said they are looking for other ways and strategies to increase the booster uptake in the country amid the rising Covid-19 cases. (SunStar Philippines)