Entry to malls and restaurants in Metro Manila should be limited to fully vaccinated individuals after the lockdown, an economic adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte proposed this week to control the spread of COVID-19 in the capital region.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said implementing such “stronger measures” could help preserve the gains of the two-week ECQ even if the lockdown is extended. Metro Manila is under ECQ until Aug. 20 but this could be extended according to officials.
“We are pushing for establishments in NCR, such as malls, restaurants and others, to allow only fully vaccinated individuals so we can create safer bubbles,” Concepcion said in a statement.
He noted that his proposal should be viewed in the context that there are “enough fully vaccinated” individuals in a certain city.
Metro Manila mayors said they would ramp up inoculations regardless of the community quarantine status from Aug. 21 onwards.
In the case of unvaccinated individuals, Concepcion said mobility should still be limited to protect them from COVID-19 since they are the “most vulnerable ones.”
“It will not be imposed unreasonably. That’s whether is a milestone in terms of the percentage of the vaccinated individuals,” Concepcion said, citing the “aggressive “ rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Metro Manila.
The Philippines has so far fully vaccinated some 10% of its population since it started its inoculation program in March. The slow pace of inoculations has been attributed by authorities to the limited global supply of jabs.
Concepcion said the measures he proposed “will encourage people to do their civic duty and take the vaccines,” to keep the economy open.
“The private sector wants to see an end to these lockdowns. A ‘close-open’ type of economy is something we cannot afford to have,” he said.
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