The Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and the private sector are mulling over new policies allowing further mobility on the part of the fully-vaccinated population as the economy paves its path toward recovery, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
During the ceremonial vaccination for economic frontliners (A4) on Monday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said that as the country rolls out its vaccination program, the economy should be reopened further moving forward. As such, he pointed out that the vaccinated Filipinos should be given “benefits” by easing mobility restrictions for them.
“’Yung mga nabakunahan sana may maramdaman din silang benepisyo [Those who got vaccinated should receive some benefits]. What do I mean? So ’yung mga bawal ngayon, sana payagan na [The restrictions will hopefully be lifted for the vaccinated],” he explained.
For example, the senior citizens who received two Covid-19 doses should be allowed to go out after a month, he said.
“They will have to show vaccine card or paper given by the LGU [local government unit],” Lopez told reporters. “And being worked out now by DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] is a digital app or card for vaccinated.”
This proposal bears resemblance to the suggestion raised by the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines (RestoPH). Eric Teng, RestoPH president, asked government officials at a Senate hearing last month to allow additional 20-percent indoor dine-in capacity for the vaccinated population. This would allow vaccinated senior citizens to go to restaurants, he explained.
“In terms of the domestic travel or foreign travel, [if] vaccinated…we can have shorter quarantine,” Lopez added.
The trade chief explained that some investors are discouraged to visit the Philippines because of the long quarantine period.
Lopez welcomed the start of the vaccination of A4 category, which includes private, government, self-employed and informal workers.
“This is a shot in the arm to the economic frontliners, a shot in the arm to our economy. This is what we really need as we try to continuously reopen. Otherwise, our reopening is forward, backward,” he said.
As more Filipinos get vaccinated, Lopez said it is expected that Covid-19 cases will go down. He is also anticipating fewer severe cases and deaths.
“With that, we will confidently continue to reopen and that is towards the path of recovery. And now we are seeing signs of recovery, we will see more and better signs of recovery moving forward,” Lopez added.
Preparation is key
Regardless of the vaccination rollout status, Employers Confederation of the Philippines President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. underscored that the government should be prepared to address potential concerns when it fully reopens the economy.
“The important thing is how they will open the economy and balancing,” he told the BusinessMirror recently.
For example, Ortiz-Luis lamented that employees are finding it challenging to go to their workplace because of lack of transportation mobility.
In addition, he said that hospital capacity is overwhelmed easily when there is a spike in Covid-19 cases.
“If they are not prepared, what is the point of reopening the economy?” Ortiz-Luis asked.
German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI), meanwhile, said that the government should follow a scientific approach when considering the reopening of the economy.
“While we support the proposal to fully open the economy upon vaccinating half of the Philippine population, we recommend that the government should follow a scientific approach and weigh the benefits vs threats,” GPCCI President Stefan Schmitz said.
“Likewise, there should be thoughts on how to increase acceptance amongst the population to get vaccinated ie. by giving certain (travelling) freedoms to the fully inoculated people—this could help revive the badly hit tourism sector,” he added.
As of May 30, about 3.97 million have received their first dose while 1.21 million were vaccinated with the second dose. There are 3,850 vaccination sites in the country.
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