DILG chief opposes ‘no booster card, no entry’ proposal: The economy will suffer

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s economy will suffer if the “no booster card, no entry” proposal is implemented, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Monday, noting that over half a million individuals in Metro Manila remain unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Año said that the government is prioritizing the immunization for primary series or the first doses and second doses.

“Sa ngayon hindi pa ‘yan napapanahon. Ang ating priority pa rin—although nag-booster na tayo ng mga fully vaccinated—ang ating primary priority, mag-vaccinate pa rin ng primary series,” Año  said on TeleRadyo’s Sakto.

(As of now, it is not yet time. Our priority—although we boosted the fully vaccinated—our primary priority is to administer the primary series.)

“At isa pa sa Metro Manila, 2.6 million pa lang yung nabu-booster natin more or less nasa… 36 percent pa lang ito. Kung maglalagay na tayo ng “no booster card, no entry” policy magsu-suffer ‘yung economy natin sapagkat ilan lamang ‘yung pwedeng maka-avail ng mga establishments,” he explained.

(Another thing, in Metro Manila, only 2.6 million have been received booster shots, more or less this is just 36 percent. If we implement the “no booster card, no entry” policy, our economy will suffer because only a few could enter the establishments.)

Año also pointed out that the proposal could not be implemented for now as it has not yet been discussed in the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“But for the meantime hindi pa ‘to pwedeng ipatupad ‘yang “no booster card no entry” at hindi pa rin naman ‘yan napag-uusapan sa IATF,” he said.

(For the meantime, the “no booster card no entry” could not be implemented yet as it has not undergone discussions in the IATF.)

According to Año, 59.1 million individuals in the country are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

He said that of the 100-million target population nationwide, 34 million remain unvaccinated, including 565,888 in Metro Manila.

Earlier, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion suggested implementing the “no booster card, no entry” policy in Metro Manila, which has a high vaccination rate, to ensure that individuals are protected against the coronavirus.(with a report from Jericho Zafra)

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