MANILA, Philippines — Various government officials are supporting the call of presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion to create more “Bakuna Bubbles” outside Metro Manila to jumpstart the economy in many localities.
He said this bubble is an effective and safe way to reopen the economy.
Concepcion pointed out that the creation of more “Bakuna Bubbles” would help ramp up economic activity in localities. Under this concept, fully vaccinated individuals will be allowed more mobility and enjoy looser health protocols.
“With around 90 percent of target population in the NCR (National Capital Region) now vaccinated, the government should focus its vaccination efforts in other areas of the country to increase the inoculation rate in the provinces,” he stressed, noting that this would help create more jobs and livelihood in the countryside.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III agreed with Concepcion during a Go Negosyo “Let’s Go Bakuna” town hall meeting, saying the continuing efforts to guarantee the country’s safe passage out of the COVID-19 pandemic is reflected in the downward case trends.
For vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., Concepcion and the private sector’s proposal to implement a strict lockdown in August paid dividends as he noted that the number of COVID cases and other vital indicators are going down.
“Latest data from the National Economic and Development Authority show that our decision to strike a balance between protecting the health of our people and the nation’s economy has been very effective,” Galvez said.
He added that the country achieved a weekly jab rate of more than 5.4 million from Nov. 2 to 8.
Aklan Gov. Florencio Miraflores also expressed gratitude to Concepcion for helping local government units open their doors to visitors by facilitating their request for vaccines.
“We were given the needed vaccines for Boracay so we can vaccinate residents in the island and the tourism workers, and we are now open to receive tourists,” he said.
Miraflores added that fully vaccinated tourists can go to Boracay without RT-PCR test starting Nov. 16.
Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap noted that his province also shelved the RT-PCR requirement for fully vaccinated visitors to attract tourists back to the island.
“Everyone is eager to open, especially this Christmas… We are prioritizing how to incentivize and how to bring back tourists to Bohol,” Yap said partly in Filipino.
Concepcion is also pushing for less quarantine and more mobility for the fully vaccinated as a means to encourage Filipinos in North America to return to the Philippines and spend Christmas with their loved ones.
“Many Filipinos are longing to return to the Philippines as they haven’t seen their loved ones for two Christmases already. But they opt to stay put because of the long quarantine being imposed by our government on travelers from North America. The government should shelve its quarantine requirement so our fellow Filipinos in North America can spend the holidays with their family and friends in the Philippines,” he stressed.
Concepcion cited data from Philippine Airlines showing that the positivity rate among inbound passengers from the US is very low – less than one in 377, or less than one passenger on a full 777 aircraft.
Addressing Concepcion’s concern, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Dodo Dulay said the government is currently discussing a shorter quarantine for international arrivals instead of fully opening up the country for international travel.
“For domestic travel, we are working on a unified system that travelers can use to go around,” he said.
According to OCTA Research, the country’s total number of COVID cases will not hit three million by end of 2021. It also said that the 7-day average of new cases may go down to less than 1,000 by the end of this month.
“At this level, the country’s average daily attack rate would be less than 1 per 100,000,” said math professor Guido David, OCTA Research fellow.