Officials have recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte not to allow unvaccinated individuals to leave their residences, except for essential activities, under the “no vax, no labas” policy earlier adopted by the National Capital Region (NCR).
During Duterte’s Talk to the People on Tuesday night, Presidential Adviser for Covid-19 Response Vivencio Dizon said he, along with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., pushed for the adoption of this policy nationwide amid the spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.
“We are recommending that this policy in (the) NCR also be adopted by the entire country, even in areas that have not yet experienced the surge because we know it is really just a matter of time that this Omicron has spread throughout the country,” Dizon said.
He added that many countries, particularly those in Europe, are already restricting the mobility of unvaccinated persons.
“This is really the situation today in different countries, not just us, that the unvaccinated are really the ones that are being hit badly by the new variants and they are the ones causing the health care systems to be congested. And because of that, they pose the greatest risk,” Dizon said.
Earlier, members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and the private sector lauded the “bold move” of Metro Manila mayors to limit the mobility of unvaccinated individuals as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed following the holidays and the presence of the Omicron variant in the country.
During the Go Negosyo Townhall meeting on Wednesday, Duque said the Delta remains to be the dominant variant among the positive cases here.
The officials also urged unvaccinated Filipinos to get the COVID-19 jabs, and those with complete doses to get booster shots.
The NTF targets to fully vaccinate 70 million Filipinos by early March. (PNA)
