The Philippines figured last in Nikkei Asia’s Covid-19 Recovery Index released on Wednesday.
Nikkei Asia’s report evaluated 121 countries’ infection management, vaccine rollouts and social mobility.
The higher a country’s ranking, the closer it is to “recovery,” with low infection numbers, higher inoculation rates and less-strict social distancing measures.
The Philippines ranked 121st in the latest recovery index, from 108th in July and 106th in August.
It got a 30.5 score. Malta ranked first with a 73.0 rating.
The Philippines has over 21 million individuals fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
It is testing the efficacy of granular lockdowns in Metro Manila as it aims to end one of the longest lockdowns in the world by implementing strict mobility measures in smaller zones.
As of Sept. 10, it has recorded 2,622,917 Covid-19 cases.
A Covid-19 resilience report by Bloomberg in late September also ranked the Philippines last among 53 countries.
But Malacañang said the Philippines ranking last in the resilience ranking did not come as a surprise, blaming the supposed vaccine inequality worldwide.
According to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., the Philippines could realistically fully vaccinate 50 percent of its population by yearend. John Ezekiel J. Hirro