Vaccination ID rollout by September 1

MANILA, Philippines — The rollout of the unified vaccination cards in Metro Manila can start on Sept. 1, according to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos yesterday said local government units in Metro Manila have uploaded 90 percent of the data.

The data will be sent to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which will collate the information.

Mayors in Metro Manila earlier said they were targeting to finish uploading the vaccination data within this month.

Earlier in the month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said locally issued vaccine cards of fully inoculated overseas Filipino workers were not recognized by the government of Hong Kong.

Abalos asked the DICT to develop a portal or a site wherein different local governments in Metro Manila could check whether a person has already received COVID vaccines, to avoid giving out third doses or booster shots.

He said a third dose or booster shot is illegal. Anyone getting a third shot will be charged.

Some local government units in Metro Manila have opened their vaccination program to residents of other cities in order to inoculate as many people as possible.

Meanwhile, the proposal to provide “safer bubbles” for fully vaccinated people should be implemented only when more vaccines are available and a majority of the Filipinos are fully inoculated, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said yesterday.

Guevarra was reacting to a proposal of presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion to allow fully vaccinated people in establishments such as shopping malls and restaurants.

“I understand that the objective behind Presidential Adviser Concepcion’s proposal to give vaccinated persons greater mobility and access is to boost the revival of certain sectors of the economy. The idea is good but may be challenged as violative of the equal protection clause by those who have remained unvaccinated, but are nonetheless complying with mandatory health protocols,” said Guevarra, who is also a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“Without prejudging the legal issue, the proper time to push for the proposal is when more vaccines become readily available to anyone anywhere and a majority of the people have been fully vaccinated,” he said.

Concepcion said that in Jakarta, Indonesia, shopping malls have reopened at 25 percent, but only for fully vaccinated people. – Evelyn Macairan