Metro Manila mayors have agreed to implement a unified standard that would, among others, require all traders, salespersons, exhibitors, organizers, and other personnel to be fully vaccinated prior to their actual conduct of Christmas bazaars, tiangges, and pop-up stores.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. revealed the mayors’ consensus as more establishments and activities are already allowed to operate under Alert Level 2.
This developed as the MMDA inked a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Dental Association and Rotary Club of Manila for the National Capital Region’s (NCR) “We Vax As One” initiative aimed to increase the inoculation rate in NCR and the neighboring provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna towards attainment of population protection or herd immunity at the soonest possible time.
Dentists will now serve as vaccinators, complementing doctors and nurses who have already inoculated 90 percent of Metro Manila’s eligible population.
Abalos said that the Metro Manila mayors have prepared the guidelines for sellers and personnel of Christmas bazaars and other seasonal markets in NCR as the holiday nears and shoppers start to increase in numbers.
“These will help reduce risk of transmitting the virus since they are seasonal in nature and sellers come from various parts of the country making contact tracing difficult on the part of the local government units,” Abalos said citing MMDA Resolution 21-27, stating that all traders, salespersons, exhibitors, organizers, and other personnel are required to be fully vaccinated prior to their actual conduct of Christmas bazaars, tiangges, and pop-up stores.
“We want to avoid a repeat of the polio outbreak in the country which happened last September 2019 where these seasonal stores are identified as significant contributors in its spread,” he said.
Abalos added that Covid-19 virus is equally deadly as polio, “so in order to guard against exposure to the virus, we should make sure that our economic frontliners have their own protection since they are exposed to many.”
The Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases placed the NCR under Alert Level 2 last November 5.