‘No booster card, no entry’ bid difficult to enforce as of now, says expert

MANILA, Philippines — The “no booster card, no entry” proposal would be difficult to implement as of now because many people in the country still remain unvaccinated, according to a government expert on infectious disease.

“Well, unang-una, malayo pa tayo talaga du’n sa mabo-boost natin lahat ng tao sa ngayon kasi marami pa rin namang hindi nabibigyan nung vaccination ‘yung tinatawag natin na primary series,” Dr. Edsel Salvana, a member of the Department of Health-Technical Advisory Group, said during the Laging Handa briefing on Thursday.

(First, we are far from boosting everyone as of now because many people still have not received their primary series yet.)

Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion earlier suggested that establishments in Metro Manila should start requiring proof of booster shot from customers by March or April.

READ: Booster shot proof in NCR businesses by March or April pushed by gov’t exec

Salvana also said the government’s focus should be on administering primary doses or the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

READ: DOH: Do not use doses for primary vaccination as booster shots vs COVID-19

“So, I think na mahirap gawin ‘yun kasi masyadong maraming tao ang hindi pa natin nabo-boost and of course, we want to make sure the focus remains on the people na hindi pa nababakunahan,” he explained.

(So, I think it would be hard to implement because several people are not yet boosted and of course, we want to make sure the focus remains on the people who are yet to be vaccinated.)

He further noted that the country is still far from having an endemic mindset wherein restrictions to curb COVID-19 would be lifted.

“‘Pag mag-e-endemic mindset tayo, katulad ng ginawa ng Denmark, at some point, hindi mo na kakailanganin mag-present nitong mga vaccine cards and other things, even wearing a mask. Pero malayo pa ‘yun sa ngayon kasi dahan-dahan nga tayo nagluluwag,” he pointed out.

(If we will have an endemic mindset, like what Denmark did, at some point you would not need to present your vaccine cards and other things, even wearing a mask. But, it is far from now because we are gradually relaxing.)

READ: Denmark unmasks to ‘live normally’ again with Omicron

Presidential adviser for COVID-19 response and National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon on Wednesday said they are crafting a plan to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic as endemic in the country.

“I think we are heading in that direction already. Siguro po (Maybe) give us maybe this month to put it together. Secretary [Carlito] Galvez and the NTF are already putting together a plan to move from the state of a pandemic to an endemic approach. We will have more details po siguro (maybe) within the month,” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

As of February 1, a total of 59.1 million people in the country received full doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines while around 7.5 million received booster shots.

KGA