Provide incentives for fully vaccinated, Go says

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go renewed yesterday his appeal to government authorities to consider the possibility of providing incentives to fully vaccinated individuals so as to encourage more Filipinos to get their COVID-19 shots.

As vaccines become more available, he asked the government and private sector to come up with “unique and innovative ways” to incentivize people to help the country achieve population protection, which can lead to herd immunity at the soonest.

“Let’s study well the granting of incentives to the vaccinated, like less restrictions. Like allowing them to dine and walk outside, to work, to move without restrictions to boost vaccine confidence. In other countries, vaccinated people can watch basketball, like the NBA (National Basketball Association) in the US. If more are vaccinated, our lives will be closer to normal,” Go said.

He also supports the proposal of mayors in the National Capital Region (NCR) to relax some of the COVID-19 guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals.

On Thursday, the Metro Manila Council issued an appeal urging the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to ease the guidelines for the fully vaccinated.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua, during a Senate hearing on the same day, expressed support for the “Bakuna Bubble” pilot in NCR.

From March 22 to April 4, the government, through the IATF, had put up a bubble in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal. Authorized individuals were permitted to travel into and out of certain places under this arrangement.

While more limitations were in place to manage mobility in these areas, most businesses continued to operate.

He said the NCR is a huge contributor to the economy and slightly easing restrictions for the vaccinated may revive various economic sectors. He thanked various private business entities for coming up with creative incentive schemes, such as discounts and provision of freebies, for fully vaccinated individuals.

Go stressed that studies show fully vaccinated individuals have a significantly decreased risk of infection and developing severe illness from COVID-19 and thus should be allowed to engage in select pre-pandemic activities for as long as basic health protocols are still followed, like wearing of face mask and face shield and observing social distancing.

The country has so far administered about 37.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Sept. 8. Of these, 21.3 million individuals have received their first dose, while another 15.8 million have received their second dose.